“We’re done,” Brian Johnson says about the new AC/DC album, their 15th. “I’m very excited and we’ve got some great songs.” That’s what he told Metal Hammer from his hometown of Newcastle, where the singer was picking up his Doctorate in Music from Northumbria University. He says that the album will come out either later this year or early in 2015, but the band hasn’t chosen an album title just yet. “I wanted to call the album Man Down,” he said. “But its a bit negative and it was probably just straight from the heart. I like that.”
Man Down would be a bit negative, given that the band is currently down a member, as Malcolm Young is currently on leave from the band due to health issues. Johnson spoke about Young’s absence:
“We miss Malcolm obviously. He’s a fighter. He’s in hospital but he’s a fighter. We’ve got our fingers crossed that he’ll get strong again. Stevie, Malcolm’s nephew, was magnificent, but when you’re recording with this thing hanging over you and your work mate isn’t well, it’s difficult. But I’m sure he was rooting for us. He’s such a strong man. He’s a small guy but he’s very strong. He’s proud and he’s very private so we can’t say too much. But fingers crossed he’ll be back.”
While there have been rumors about AC/DC touring soon (those rumors started by Johnson himself), Johnson hinted that the band would be playing Europe next summer. That means that they’ll be on the road then, but who knows if they’ll be in the states before then?
