Shock rocker Marilyn Manson is currently at work on his upcoming 11th studio album, an as-yet untitled collaboration with country outlaw Shooter Jennings. In a recent interview published in Revolver Magazine, the singer went into a little more detail about the more personal direction the album is taking.
Asked if he had a working title for the album, Manson stated that this could be his self-titled work:
“I’m in a mode in life where I wanted to tell stories with this record, and it’s sort of like a wax museum of my thoughts, a study of the chamber of horrors in my head. All the romance and hope you can have in the world, here in the End Times where it can be a different kind of apocalypse for each person listening to the record. I tried to paint it with words, and Shooter with sounds, so you can see and hear all of your longing, your passion and despair. That’s sort of a dramatic explanation of it. [Laughs] But it is full of drama. I wouldn’t compare it to any of my other records, but you hear a bit of everything — it’s like I’ve focused everything into one spot, finally.”
Manson also discussed his working relationship with Jennings, who he had previously collaborated with on a cover of David Bowie’s “Cat People” in 2016.
The singer continued:
“He’s very talented in so many ways, and working with him is very fluid. We have a totally different collaborative style than I did [with Tyler Bates] on the last two records. Sometimes Shooter will already be doing something that I was going to suggest. We lock brains a lot together. You know, that could be because of drugs and alcohol, or it could just be because we’re in a small room together. Who knows? [Laughs] Or both!”
The new album will be the direct follow-up to 2017’s Heaven Upside Down. Manson plans to have the album released sometime by the end of the year, though no official date has been announced. The duo is also releasing a cover of the Doors’ “The End” for the upcoming CBS miniseries based on Steven King’s ‘The Stand,’ which Manson has a part in.
A new album isn’t the only release Manson has up his sleeve for this year. According to the interview he is hoping to have an art book out before his new music drops.
He explains:
“It’s a compilation of selected pieces that I thought would be great to show. It’ll be big, and it’ll probably have hand-written notes and sketches, details about what inspired the painting, to give you a look at what was going on inside my head. Because whenever I paint, I paint on the floor, and I often take Polaroids so I can see the painting for depth purposes; I still have all those photos of the paintings, from the very first stroke to the end. Sometimes that’s kind of interesting to look at.”
The interview also goes on to talk about Manson’s thoughts about what a true rock star is.
“Well, if you don’t wear sunglasses, it’s not rock & roll. I don’t even know how people can survive without sunglasses, in general. And when you get home, you don’t take off your “work” clothes. I mean, on tour, I never change my clothes, at all. I’m Jim Morrison-ing it. The pants stay on — it’s easier that way. [Laughs] And it’s not a “job.” Of course, it is your job to do it, but you don’t look at it as a job that you take on. It’s all or nothing, you know?”
Manson mentioned artists as varied as Quentin Tarantino, Francis Bacon, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Johnny Depp, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings as examples, with newer artists like Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Uzi Vert and Bill $aber exemplifying it for the younger generation.
Manson will be heading out on the Twins of Evil: Hell Never Dies tour with co-headliner Rob Zombie this summer, their fourth outing together. The tour runs July 9 in Baltimore, MD through August 18 in Gilford, NH. Palaye Royale will be joining as support for all tour dates, including Manson’s non-Twins of Evil dates.
Manson commented on the tour during the Revolver interview:
“I’ve been training for the last four months, which has changed my frame of mind — you get endorphins into your brain, and it expands your whole way of thinking but also heals your body, obviously. So I think this one is going to be a lot different, because there will be a different stage display, and because of how we’re going to make the music. I have a strong feeling it’s going to be a lot more punk rock than the last tour, because our new drummer is a very hard hitter, and I’m excited about that.”
The full interview can be found on Revolver Magazine’s website.
