Linkin Park returns with new album

MANILA, Philippines - Living Things is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Linkin Park. It is scheduled for release starting on June 20. Production was handled by vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who both co-produced the band’s previous studio albums Minutes to Midnight (2007) and A Thousand Suns (2010).

 The band states that Living Things combines elements from its previous four studio albums to create a new sound. Linkin Park stated it finally felt it was in “familiar territory” and “comfortable in its own skin” after years of experimentation that resulted in the group’s two previous studio albums, Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns. Living Things was chosen as the album’s title because of the numerous personal topics about people implemented on the album.

 The lead single for the album, Burn It Down, was sent to radio and released to digital music retailers on April 16.

 Shinoda spoke to Co.Create about the album’s art, saying that it will “blow them (the fans) away...the average person is not going to be able to look at it and go, I understand that that’s completely new, like not just the image but the way they made the image is totally new. So there’s going to be that.” On April 9, the band released a teaser video for the album on Tumblr. 

Mike Shinoda recently posted a blog update confirming that the new album title will be Living Things and that the album will be available for pre-order through Linkin Park’s website. Living Things was released on June 26. In celebration of the release of Living Things, the band teamed up with music streaming website Spotify to release live compilations of each album era.

 The band had numerous influences and inspirations for Living Things. Shinoda told Rolling Stone that Skin to Bone and Roads Untraveled contained folk music influenced by the works of Bob Dylan, as well as the inspirations of Dylan. The seventh track Victimized, which Rolling Stone described as “the band’s most aggressive track in years,” was influenced by punk rock bands such as Pennywise and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. Shinoda noted the minimal content of numerous punk rock songs attributed to the short length of Victimized; bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrel noted that the song’s working title, Battle Axe, “which to me is…what that song is; it’s just this big ‘crack’ and then you’re out.” 

 Living Things is now released globally and being distributed in the country by Warner Music Philippines.