The Art Of Survival

Gavin Rossdale:

Instead of being mournful or self-piteous, this is about the success stories of humanity’s survival against the odds. People just find a way to push through. We’ve all obviously suffered in varying degrees. I think the nature of life is the art of survival. Everyone is being tested all of the time, but we find a way. In recent memory, we’ve made major strides and shown great resilience in the face of war, endless instances of racism, gender politics, a pandemic, and a melting pot of what we’ve experienced. For me, The Art Of Survival encompasses all of this.

I think I had so much fun to make it heavy that I just stayed heavy and stayed with heavy tuning and strong riffs — stuff [that will go over well at] festivals. I just like it to be exciting and really driving. So it’s similar to the last one. If you liked the last one, that level of heavy, then it’s like that.

It’s all like that [The Kingdom]. I like that. So I’ve kept it in that vein. That was the launchpad. That was it. I was, like, ‘I’m off.’ I’ve got maybe two ballady, two softer songs, slower songs, but they’re weird.

I’ve got a studio in my house now and it’s been such an amazing time. You have the tools at your fingertips now to make songs and make music. It’s just staggering. It’s so much fun.

—via Blabbermouth