Clutch will release their long-awaited 14th studio album, Wasted Lands, in January 2027. It marks their first new studio record since Sunrise on Slaughter Beach (2022), the longest gap between albums in their thirty-plus-year career. With the release of “Beware the Fever” today, the stoner rock legends have delivered three tracks that assure fans that the LP will be well worth the wait.
Wasted Lands marks a first and a welcome return. The latest single (almost) features the band’s first use of a banjo. Additionally, it sees them working with producer Machine again for the first time since Psychic Warfare (2015). Clutch frontman Neil Fallon recently discussed all of that and more with American Songwriter.
Clutch and Machine–What Makes the Combo Work?
Machine produced or co-produced some of their most popular records. He worked on Pure Rock Fury (2001), Blast Tyrant (2004), Earth Rocker (2013), and Psychic Warfare. All of those quickly became fan favorites. We asked Neil Fallon how Machine captures what they do so well.
“I think Machine knows us very well. We have a very dynamic relationship. With Clutch, we’re very much a democracy, creatively speaking. That’s great in some regards, but it can also be difficult to make decisions because everyone’s on the same page,” Fallon says. “Machine can be a whip-cracker. He can speak very bluntly. You could call it tough love,” he explains.
Maybe more importantly, he hears them differently than other producers. “I think he’s able to listen to us from a fan’s point of view, instead of a guy who’s just doing another record.”
Wasted Lands Is Built for the Stage
Fallon said Clutch probably had enough material to record a double album. However, most of it will likely never see the light of day. He explained why they scrapped the material and the main idea behind Wasted Lands.
“There are songs that are kind of studio creations. It may sound cool in the studio or in your headphones. But we asked ourselves, ‘Is this going to be just as cool live, on stage?’” Fallon says. “It’s particularly easy to do that these days. With a couple of clicks, you can have a backup string section on your song. Are you going to go tour with one? Probably not,” he adds.
They took the material they had to the studio, and recorded some demos. However, Fallon revealed it had been collecting dust for months. No one in the band is really interested in revisiting any of it. “I think we just arrived at the conclusion that we needed to get that out of our system,” Fallon explains. “Then, we kind of went back to brass tacks and doing what we do best.”
A Clutch Song with a Banjo?
Clutch is the kind of band that can grow, evolve, and stay fresh without leaving the core elements of their sound behind. They’ve seemingly never shied away from trying new things. From the rapid-fire rap on “Careful with That Mic” to the resonator guitar on “The Regulator” to the funky otherworldliness of “Space Grass,” the band follows where their creative drive takes them. Adding a banjo to the mix was still an unexpected choice, though.
“John-Paul invited me over to the warehouse. I think we were going to jam, but either Dan or Tim couldn’t make it. So, he said, ‘Just come over. Let’s do something out of the box. Bring your acoustic guitar,’ which I did,” Fallon recalls. “I also brought my banjo, which I’d been messing around with, but it had been sitting in its case for years. He played this kind of classic hip hop boom-bap beat like Eric B. & Rakim. I more or less played slop over it. I didn’t even have the banjo quite in tune, really,” he explains.
John Paul Gaster recorded the jam session, but Fallon never gave it a second thought. “I was like, that was fun but whatever,” he recalls. “Long story short, not only is it on the record but it’s also a single with a video.” Despite the hype around the new single, Fallon pointed out that “Beware the Fever” technically isn’t the first Clutch song to feature a banjo. “We did have a banjo on The Elephant Riders, but it was sort of on a bonus track in the background.”
Physical copies of the album came with one of three bonus tracks. The one with banjo is “05,” which is available on the streaming version.
Wasted Lands
Clutch will release Wasted Lands on various physical formats and across streaming platforms on January 27, 2027. Merch bundles, CDs, LPs, and cassettes are available for pre-order on the band’s website.
Featured Image by Dan Winters
The post Clutch’s Neil Fallon on Making ‘Wasted Lands’ for the Stage, Bringing Back a Fan-Favorite Producer, and Playing Banjo on the New Album (Exclusive) appeared first on American Songwriter.