Tool are notorious for taking their sweet time between albums, especially the 13 years between 2006’s 10,000 Days and 2019’s Fear Inoculum. Now, even singer Maynard James Keenan is insisting that the band can’t wait that long to put out the next one.
“Tool is a more complicated beast with a lot of egos and a lot of other things going on in our lives,” Keenan told Metal Hammer in a new interview. “But all the creativity’s there, the songs and the ideas can flow and the arguments ensue.”
Get A Perfect Circle Sessanta Tour Tickets Here
He continued, “As soon as we get past the arguments, we can get shit done! [Laughs] I think we could do it more efficiently. And I think everyone’s on the same page that we have to get through that, because we can’t drag this out another 14 years.”
In the same interview, guitarist Adam Jones added, “Most of the people that you hear from on those things – like, ‘When’s your next record?’ – when you do finish it, they’re like, ‘OK, when’s your next one?’ You can’t make people happy. We have this very selfish approach to art. It’s our rules. When you start trying to make people happy, you’re losing yourself. You’re losing that burn inside you of why you do what you do.”
The sentiments from Keenan and Jones are in line with recent remarks from bassist Justin Chancellor, who revealed to Heavy Consequence a few months ago that the band hopes to hit the studio later this year.
Chancellor told us, “We have, as usual, loads of ideas, loads of stuff that didn’t get used — constantly writing new stuff. I write something, I immediately know it’s for Tool. It sounds the right way.”
He added, “I’d say by June we’re going to be back home after Europe, and the second half of the year we’re going to get in and give it another go to try and put some of it together. We’re not going to be taking so much time over it if we’re going to do an album. We’re going to figure out how to do it a little bit quicker.”
As Chancellor pointed out, Tool have a UK/European tour set for May and June (tickets available here). On top of that, Keenan just kicked off the “Sessanta” US tour featuring his bands A Perfect Circle and Puscifer alongside Primus in celebration of the singer’s 60th birthday.
See a photo gallery of Tool’s January show at Madison Square Garden below, and see where Justin Chancellor ranks on our new list of the 100 Greatest Bassists of All Time.
Photo Gallery: Tool and Elder play Madison Square Garden in New York City in January 2024 (click to expand and scroll through):