Did you expect Red Hot Chili Peppers to give it away, give it away, give it away now? That is, all of their best material since reuniting with guitarist John Frusciante in 2019. Because it would appear not. Surrounding the release of last week’s Unlimited Love, the Chili Peppers’ first album back with Frusciante since 2006, the guitarist said the funk-rock veterans saved some of the sessions’ finest stuff for a future effort.
In an interview that emerged on Friday (April 8), Frusciante raves, “I definitely feel like we saved a lot of some of the best stuff for the potential next album, so I’m excited about putting that into a shape.”
He continues to Total Guitar, “We went into the studio with about 45 [songs], and then a few songs got written while we were recording the basic tracks, or while we were in pre-production.”
It seems the surplus of tunes lent itself to the idea of a second collection. Not that the returning RHCP guitarist necessarily had a say in the matter, he joked.
“You know, I was ready to stop when we had like 20 – I felt like that was good enough,” Frusciante says. “And there were actually three points during the writing process where I thought, ‘We’ve got enough songs; I’m gonna stop writing songs now.'” [Laughs]
The musician, who recently shared that he turned to the occult around when he quit the band in 2009, first revealed in February that Red Hot Chili Peppers had “recorded almost 50 pieces of music” with their longtime producer Rick Rubin ahead of Unlimited Love‘s April 1 release. He then said they had a “loose plan” to use them for an immediate follow-up.
“We definitely have enough material that we love,” Frusciante added at the time, indicating the envisioned album had a “relaxed energy that’s distinct from the intensity” of Unlimited Love.
In that same NME interview, RHCP singer Anthony Kiedis promised, “We’re gonna put out music by the handful. Literally. Don’t be surprised if another wheelbarrow of songs comes your way in the near future. … We have a lot of shit to turn people onto.”
For now, fans can get Unlimited Love, which features “Black Summer,” “Poster Child” and “These Are the Ways.” The Peppers will tour this summer.
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