A new Sublime album is in the works with Jakob Nowell, son of founding vocalist Bradley Nowell. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, the singer said he was working with original members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh on a new project.
Nowell is spearheading the album, which would be Sublime’s first full-length release since their 1996 breakout self-titled project. Recently, he spent a week in the studio with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and producer John Feldmann, writing songs in anticipation of recording sessions with Wilson and Gaugh.
“Travis is an old-school fan and scholar of the Sublime catalog,” he said. “They feel like family members now too, man. There was that feeling from everyone that what we’re doing here is something generational and special on an emotional, spiritual, familial level.”
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In a statement, Barker described the project as “really special” and said, “Bradley comes through his son Jakob… Chills every day in the studio when he sings and plays guitar.”
In addition to writing new songs, Nowell is digging through his late father’s studio archives for inspiration. “We’re combing through and trying to distill down what makes a Sublime song a Sublime song,” he explained. “It’s been this fun learning process to get close to and get to know my lost family member in a spiritual sense. I think we leave so much of ourselves, like this blueprint of our DNA, in the work that we create and put out there. So really it’s been also a fact-finding mission.”
Assisting Nowell with the process is “real [Sublime] scholar” producer Jon Joseph, who has pored through “not only every release, but every bootleg, every tape, every anything that Sublime has ever done. He’s tracking every single chord progression, vocal melody, lyrical content and themes and compiling a list.”
Nowell emphasized that they would gauge fan interest with a single or two before proceeding with a full album. “If it feels threatening and lame and just not a cool thing to do, we probably won’t continue onwards,” he said. “But if there’s even a little bit of interest and it seems like we’re doing our job right and respecting that legacy, then of course, making music is what we want to do. It’s Bud and Eric’s job, man. It’s what they know how to do.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Nowell said Riverdale star KJ Apa was “pretty much confirmed” to be playing his father in an authorized Sublime biopic and revealed he is reading through the script for authenticity.
Prior to officially reuniting Sublime with Jakob Nowell last year, Gaugh and Wilson toured as Sublime with Rome, featuring singer Rome Ramirez. Last year, the band released their final album and embarked on a farewell tour with none of the original Sublime members.
The new iteration of Sublime with Jakob debuted on the main stage at Coachella 2024. In May, the group released their first new song in 28 years, “Feel Like That,” featuring vocals from both Bradley Nowell and Jakob.
With festival season soon approaching, Sublime are scheduled to perform at Boston Calling, BottleRock Napa, Shaky Knees, Sea.Hear.Now, and more. Get tickets here.
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