Volbeat Lead Singer Opens Up About New Album, Future Plans
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Armed with a new arsenal of music, Volbeat returned to Pittsburgh Thursday night.
The rock band from Denmark is on tour to support their newest album, "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie." Last night, they played an outdoor show at Stage AE in front of scores of appreciative fans.
This was the first time the band had been back to town since 2014. But, Pittsburgh is a city the band looks forward to seeing, especially in the future.
"I was walking the city yesterday and a little bit today. It seems very nice, it's just so hot. It's so hot out there, the heat is crazy," lead singer Michael Poulsen said. "I really like the city, so it's definitely something that I'll look forward to get back to."
As for the new album, it was released in June and instantly rocketed to the top of the charts around the world. According to Poulsen, the band is very proud of what they created.
"We're very satisfied. It pretty much talks for itself. It went No. 1 in 15 different countries on iTunes on its release and it went No. 1 in eight different countries in physical sales. It's been going really fast with this new album. We're very satisfied. Our fans seem to dig it, so I cannot complain. We are very proud of it and very happy that the fans like it," Poulsen said.
As with any new album, fans will gravitate toward certain songs for different reasons. For Poulsen, two songs on "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie" are especially meaningful.
"I'm very proud of every song on the record, I really am or else they wouldn't be on the record. But, there's always certain songs that move you for different reasons. 'Goodbye Forever' has this gospel choir that I really wanted to work with for many years. I just didn't have the right song, but it came up now on the new album and I think the result was really, really good - very proud of it. I think it's strong and I'm proud of the lyrics. I think the lyrics [are] deep and it tells something and it gives people something to think about," Poulsen said.
The other song that sticks out to Poulsen is "For Evigt," which features a chorus in his native language.
"'For Evigt,' which is probably one of the first songs that I wrote for the album. It has elements that I really like. It has a little bit of Mumford and Sons inspiration there. A lot of stuff's going on. We got the banjo, we got the background female singer, we got Johan Olsen back on the track. It all just really clicks and it sounds perfect in my ears," Poulsen said.
The band also recorded an all-English version of the song, which is called "The Bliss." But, fans seem to really like the Danish version, according to Poulsen.
"I like the Danish version best. It seems like even though we were told you should probably also record it in English, it seems like even the Americans like the Danish version too. That is really cool because it was written for the Danish lyrics," he said.
But, that's not the only song to see two versions on the deluxe cut of the album. One version of "Black Rose" features Canadian rocker Danko Jones.
Poulsen said the band included both versions so fans could see how the track evolved and was influenced by Jones.
"The reason why we included it is so fans can see how we start with a song and how the guest is taking up the song. So definitely, the song is so much better with Danko Jones," he said.
Even though "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie" was just released, Poulsen doesn't stop thinking about ideas for the future.
The good news for fans is that he's already got some rough ideas for a new album. Just don't expect another new album immediately.
"I started working on [a] few ideas, but it's still a little bit too early," Poulsen said. "I don't think I'm going to start writing until next year, but I do have ideas for three songs."
Volbeat has tour dates scheduled around the world through the end of the year. To check the tour schedule, visit their website here.
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