Getting in a room, plugging in, and hashing it out still matters most
Nearly a decade after their last record, Living Colour — the New York band who once gave the world 'Cult of Personality' — is returning to the studio with the weight of a turbulent political moment pressing against their creative instincts. Drummer Will Calhoun has confirmed a spring 2026 album, the band's first since 2017's Shade, describing a process still in motion: ideas accumulating, sounds being tested, collaborators being invited in. It is the kind of announcement that reminds us that serious art does not arrive on schedule — it arrives when the searching finally yields something true.
- After nine years of silence on the recording front, Living Colour has confirmed new music is coming in spring 2026, ending one of rock's quieter long-form absences.
- The current political climate has worked its way into the band's creative bloodstream, with Calhoun drawing a direct line to the raw, charged energy of their 1993 album Stain.
- The band is candid that no definitive sound has emerged yet — they are still deep in the writing and experimentation phase, testing what lands and what doesn't.
- Collaborations with Anthrax bassist Frankie Bello and a cover of an obscure Dr. John track signal a band willing to reach beyond their own orbit to find the album's shape.
- Guitarist Vernon Reid has confirmed active studio sessions are ongoing, with more planned before the final direction crystallizes — the destination is real, but the road is still being built.
Living Colour has confirmed what fans have been waiting years to hear: a new full-length album is coming in spring 2026, their first original release since 2017's Shade. Drummer Will Calhoun, speaking with Chile's iRock.cl, described a band deep in the creative process — ideas are plentiful, the world's political turbulence has seeped into the work, and the new material carries echoes of their 1993 album Stain while pushing toward unfamiliar sonic ground.
Calhoun was refreshingly honest about where things stand. The band doesn't have a definitive sound for the record yet. They're in the writing stages — testing ideas, chasing something they haven't fully found. That honesty isn't uncertainty; it's a description of how real creative work unfolds. And while modern tools like Logic Pro and GarageBand have expanded what's possible alone, Calhoun was clear that the best results still come the old way: plugging in, getting in a room together, and hashing out the tunes.
Guitarist Vernon Reid, speaking on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation, confirmed the band is actively recording and experimenting. They're working on a relatively obscure Dr. John cover and have brought in Anthrax bassist Frankie Bello for collaborative sessions. More sessions are planned before the album's final shape becomes clear.
Formed in New York in 1984, Living Colour built their legacy on a restless fusion of metal, funk, jazz, hip-hop, and punk — breaking through nationally with the Grammy-winning 'Cult of Personality.' More than three decades on, they are a band that has earned the right to take their time. Spring 2026 will reveal whether the search has yielded something worthy of the wait.
Living Colour is coming back with new music. After nearly a decade away from the studio, the New York rock band confirmed this week that a full-length album is on the way for spring 2026, marking their first release of original material since 2017's Shade.
Drummer Will Calhoun laid out the timeline in a recent conversation with Chile's iRock.cl, describing a band deep in the throes of creation after years spent on the road and in the writing room. The group has ideas—many of them—and those ideas are beginning to take shape as songs. Calhoun spoke about the current moment with the kind of measured optimism that comes from someone who knows the difference between inspiration and finished work. "We have a lot of interesting ideas at the moment," he said, noting that the world's political turbulence has seeped into the creative bloodstream. The new material, he suggested, carries echoes of Stain, the band's 1993 album, though it's pushing toward territory that feels genuinely unfamiliar even to them.
What's striking is Calhoun's honesty about the process itself. The band is still searching. They're trying sounds, testing what lands and what doesn't. They want to revisit certain collaborators who've served them well in the past, but they're also chasing something they haven't quite found yet. "I don't think that honestly we have a sound for the record yet," Calhoun admitted. "I think we're in the writing stages." That's not a confession of uncertainty so much as a description of how serious work actually happens—the part that doesn't make it into the finished product.
The tools have changed since Living Colour last made a record. Calhoun acknowledged the new technology available to modern musicians: Logic Pro, Pro Tools, even GarageBand on a phone. These are the toys that can spark ideas, that can let a songwriter experiment alone before bringing anything to the band. But when it comes to rock and roll, Calhoun was clear about what still matters most. "Getting in a room, plugging the instruments in and hashing out the tunes have always given us the best results." That's the real work—the human part that technology can only support, never replace.
Guitar player Vernon Reid has been equally forthcoming about what's happening in the studio. Speaking on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation in October, Reid revealed that the band is actively recording and experimenting with different directions. Some of those experiments are covers—they're working on a relatively obscure Dr. John track. Others are collaborations: they've brought in Frankie Bello, the bassist from Anthrax, to work on material together. Reid suggested there will be more sessions before the final shape of the album becomes clear. "We're probably gonna do quite a few more before we settle on what the album is," he said, "but that's an ongoing process."
Living Colour formed in New York in 1984 and built their name on a restless fusion of heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip-hop, punk, and alternative rock. The band, fronted by vocalist Corey Glover, broke through nationally with "Cult of Personality," a song that won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990. That was more than three decades ago. What's happening now is a band that's earned the right to take their time, to experiment, to chase new ground while honoring where they've been. Spring 2026 will tell us whether they found it.
Notable Quotes
We have a lot of interesting ideas at the moment. The sound now for me is a little bit closer to 'Stain,' but it's still also a bit of a new sound for the band.— Will Calhoun, drummer
I don't think that honestly we have a sound for the record yet. I think we're in the writing stages.— Will Calhoun, drummer
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that a band hasn't released an album in nine years? Isn't that just how touring bands work now?
It matters because Living Colour isn't a nostalgia act playing the same songs every night. They're still writing, still thinking about what rock music can say. Nine years is a long time to be silent on new material.
Calhoun mentions the political climate as an influence. How does that actually work? Does anger make better songs?
Not anger exactly—more like urgency. He's saying the world's condition is pressing on them creatively. It's pushing them back toward the rawness of Stain while also making them want to find something entirely new. That tension is where the work happens.
He also says they don't have a sound yet, even though they're recording. Isn't that backwards?
Not really. Recording is part of the search. You try things, you fail, you learn. The sound emerges from that process, not before it. That's what separates real creation from just executing a plan.
What's the significance of bringing in Frankie Bello and covering Dr. John?
It's about expanding the conversation. Bello brings a different rhythmic sensibility from metal. The Dr. John cover—that's New Orleans funk and soul, something outside their usual orbit. They're deliberately pulling in influences to see what happens when those worlds collide.
Do you think they'll find what they're looking for by spring?
They'll find something. Whether it's what they're looking for is a question only they can answer. But the fact that they're asking the question seriously—that's what makes this worth paying attention to.