We're trying out sounds, seeing what works and doesn't work
Nearly four decades after emerging from New York City's fertile underground, Living Colour prepares to offer the world its first new album in nine years — a record still taking shape, still searching for its own sound. The band's drummer has pointed to the turbulence of the present political moment as a guiding force, suggesting that great unrest has a way of calling artists back to their most urgent selves. In the space between a song that has outlived its era and music not yet written, Living Colour is asking the question every enduring artist must eventually face: what does it mean to matter again?
- Nine years of silence on the recording front ends in spring 2026, when Living Colour plans to release their first album since 2017's 'Shade' — a gap long enough to feel like a reckoning.
- The political climate is pressing in on the creative process, pushing the band toward the rawer, more confrontational energy of their 1993 album 'Stain' rather than safer, more familiar ground.
- The album has no fixed sound yet — the band is deep in experimentation, testing covers, collaborating with outside musicians like Anthrax's Frankie Bello, and openly admitting they don't know what will survive the process.
- Meanwhile, 'Cult of Personality' keeps finding new audiences — 200 million Spotify streams and a second life as a pro wrestler's entrance theme remind the band exactly how high the bar they set for themselves truly is.
- The central tension is one every legacy act knows well: how to honor the faithful without becoming a museum piece, and how to reach new listeners without betraying the sound that made them matter in the first place.
Living Colour, the hard rock-funk metal band that emerged from New York City in 1984, is preparing to release new music in spring 2026 — their first album in nearly a decade. The last full collection of original songs was 2017's 'Shade,' making this upcoming record a significant moment for a group that has spent the intervening years touring and holding their place in rock culture.
Drummer Will Calhoun revealed the timeline to a Chilean music publication, describing the current phase as one of active, open-ended exploration. The political turbulence of the present day is shaping the sound, he said, with echoes of their 1993 album 'Stain' — a record made at a particular artistic crossroads — alongside territory that doesn't yet have a clear shape. 'I don't think that honestly we have a sound for the record yet,' Calhoun admitted. Guitarist Vernon Reid has been equally candid, noting the band is experimenting with covers and collaborating with Anthrax bassist Frankie Bello, with much still to be decided before anything is finalized.
Anchoring all of this is the weight of their own legacy. 'Cult of Personality,' their Grammy-winning 1988 breakthrough, has accumulated more than 200 million Spotify streams and found a second life as professional wrestler CM Punk's entrance theme — introducing it to generations who weren't alive when it first charted. Calhoun noted the song still feels 'relevant right now,' which says something about both the times and the track.
Living Colour's story is one of reinvention and survival — a band that blended heavy metal with funk, jazz, hip-hop, and punk before dissolving in 1995, then reuniting in 2000 and never really stopping since. Now they face the challenge every legacy act eventually confronts: how to honor what made them matter without simply repeating it. The political moment seems to be pushing them toward something with more edge and urgency. Whether the album will cohere into something both familiar and surprising remains to be seen — but the willingness to experiment, to risk, to keep asking the question, suggests there is still something worth listening for.
Living Colour, the hard rock-funk metal band that emerged from New York City in 1984, is preparing to release new music in spring 2026—their first album in nearly a decade. The last time they recorded a full collection of original songs was 2017's "Shade," making this upcoming record a significant moment for a group that has spent the intervening years touring and maintaining a presence in rock culture.
Drummer Will Calhoun revealed the timeline to a Chilean music publication, offering some insight into what the band is pursuing creatively. He described the current moment as one of active exploration, with the band drawing influence from the political turbulence of the present day. The sound they're developing, he suggested, echoes elements of their 1993 album "Stain"—a record that found them at a particular artistic crossroads—but they're also reaching toward something unfamiliar, something that doesn't yet have a clear shape. "I don't think that honestly we have a sound for the record yet," Calhoun said. "I think we're in the writing stages. We're trying out sounds, we're seeing what things work and don't work."
Guitar player Vernon Reid has been similarly candid about the recording process. Speaking to a satellite radio host in October, he mentioned the band is experimenting with covers, including an obscure piece by Dr. John, and collaborating with Frankie Bello, the bassist from Anthrax. Reid emphasized that they're still in flux, still testing ideas, still deciding what will ultimately make the cut. "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."
What anchors this new chapter is the band's awareness of their own legacy. "Cult of Personality," their 1988 breakthrough single, remains their defining moment—a Grammy-winning track that introduced them to millions and continues to resonate across generations. The song has accumulated more than 200 million streams on Spotify and found a second life as the entrance theme for professional wrestler CM Punk, introducing it to audiences who weren't alive when it first charted. Calhoun acknowledged that the song still feels "relevant right now," a testament to its themes and its construction.
Living Colour's history is one of reinvention and survival. They formed in the mid-1980s, blending heavy metal with funk, jazz, hip-hop, and punk—a combination that felt genuinely novel at the time. Their debut album earned them Best New Artist at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. Their second record, "Time's Up," won a Grammy in 1991 and produced "Love Rears Its Ugly Head," a track that would later be sampled by Fatboy Slim. The band dissolved in 1995 but reunited in 2000, and they've remained active since, touring regularly and maintaining a devoted following.
Now, with a new album on the horizon, they face the familiar challenge that confronts any legacy act: how to honor what made them matter while refusing to simply repeat it. Calhoun's comments suggest they're taking that tension seriously. They want to bring in listeners who weren't there the first time around, but they also don't want to alienate the people who have stayed with them. The political moment they're living through seems to be pushing them toward something with more edge, more urgency—something closer to the rawer energy of "Stain" than to whatever they might have made five years ago. Whether they'll find that new space, whether the album will cohere into something that feels both familiar and surprising, remains to be seen. But the fact that they're asking the question, that they're still willing to experiment and risk failure, suggests there's still something worth listening for.
Notable Quotes
I don't think that honestly we have a sound for the record yet. I think we're in the writing stages. We're trying out sounds, we're seeing what things work and don't work.— Will Calhoun, drummer
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
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that Living Colour is making a new album now, specifically? They've been touring, they've been active. What changes when there's a new record?
A new album is a statement of intent. It says the band still has something to say that can't be said by playing the old songs. It's a risk—you're asking people to sit with unfamiliar material from a band they know. But it's also a commitment to the present moment, not just the past.
Calhoun mentions the political climate as an influence. How does that translate into sound? What does politics sound like?
He's not saying they're writing protest songs, necessarily. He's saying the urgency and the weight of what's happening around them is pushing them toward a rawer, more aggressive sonic palette. He's pointing back to "Stain" as a reference—that album had a particular intensity. The implication is that they feel that intensity again now.
They're still in the writing stage, still experimenting. Isn't that risky to announce an album release date when you don't know what it sounds like yet?
It's honest, actually. Most bands know roughly what they're making before they announce. But Living Colour is saying: we're committing to this timeline, and we're going to figure it out. It's a vote of confidence in their own process, and it's also a way of saying to their audience, "We're serious about this."
"Cult of Personality" has 200 million streams. That's a lot of weight to carry into a new project.
It's both an anchor and a shadow. The song proves they made something that lasts, that transcends its moment. But it also means every new song will be measured against it. They seem aware of that—Calhoun said they want to bring in new fans without disappointing the old ones. That's the real tension.
What does it tell us that they're covering Dr. John and collaborating with Anthrax's bassist?
It tells us they're not trying to recapture 1988. They're looking sideways, reaching into different corners of the music they love, pulling in voices that aren't their own. That's how you make something new without erasing what you were.