AC/DC will release their new album PWR/UP on November 13, according to vocalist Brian Johnson in an interview with Rock 100.5 Atlanta. The album was long-rumored to feature guitar tracks recorded by now-deceased rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, but Johnson said that isn't the case. Instead, the album features a bunch of riffs Malcolm wrote with his brother Angus Young.
"There's a lot of [rumors] about Malcolm's guitar playing [being on the album], [and] well, of course, that's not true," said Johnson. "But what is true is the fact that Angus and Malcolm had done riffs together all their life and really had a big box of them. And Angus said he basically just went through them all and he went, 'Oh, that's a good one. This is a good one.' And he brought them out. So it really is true that Malcolm is on there, basically, in spirit and all of that. And he's such a strong character in life. And I think everybody in the band still felt, especially Angus, his brother, [that Malcolm] is in everything.
"We're always conscious of that, that he's watching over, 'You'd better do it right. You'd better do it AC/DC style or just not do it at all.' And the songs came in — Angus came in with 'em and all, and worked with Brendan O'Brien, the producer, and I went into just a regular little control room, and we just went for it. And we'd take it back, and Angus would have a listen and see if there was anything that needed changing… But there wasn't much [that needed to be changed]."
Malcolm Young left AC/DC in 2014 due to his worsening dementia, and was replaced by his nephew Stevie Young. AC/DC is expected to release a new single "Shot In The Dark" tomorrow, October 7. You can hear a pretty elongated clip of the single via a Dodge commercial here.
Listen to the full interview below.
[via Blabbermouth]