The Afghan Whigs‘ spellbinding new album, In Spades, which will be released May 5, is the long-awaited followup to their internationally acclaimed Do to the Beast (2014).

The album, which was written and produced by Greg Dulli, features the tastefully eclectic singles “Demon in Profile” and “Oriole”—both of which you can hear below—plus the guitar-centric “Arabian Heights.”

In addition to an already-planned European tour, the Whigs will perform a sold-out show at New York City’s Apollo Theater on May 23.

Unfortunately, the new album and tour happen to coincide with Dave Rosser’s recent cancer diagnosis. Although Rosser is unable to tour for extended periods, the guitarist promises to perform at the Apollo show—and maybe even a few other dates.

The Afghan Whigs are Greg Dulli (vocals/guitar), Dave Rosser (guitar), Jon Skibic (guitar), John Curley (bass), Patrick Keeler (drums) and multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson.

I recently spoke with Dulli, Rosser and Skibic about In Spades, touring, gear and more.

How would you describe In Spades, and how does it relate to the band’s previous work?

DULLI: Honestly, it’s the next evolution. This is the first record we’ve done live in the studio together in 20 years.

ROSSER: It’s pretty guitar-centric and there’s lot of riffing, but it’s still very cinematic. With Rick Nelson in there, we’ve got the multi-instrumentalist who plays violin, cello, piano and guitar.

What was the songwriting process like? 

DULLI: I write songs based on the feeling of the riff. The riff and its subsequent arrangement then tells me what it wants to be. I’ve written that way since I was 13. But I’ll never tell anyone what my songs are about, because I feel songs are personal to the listener—and the interpretation is up to them.

SKIBIC: It was a pretty organic process. Out first session was about two weeks long, and at times it seemed we were writing a song a day.

ROSSER: A lot of times during sound checks we’ll jam out to ideas and record them. The time in between albums and touring is spent collecting ammo and then after that, it becomes a matter of finding targets to fire that ammo at.

Read the rest of my
Interview with The Afghan Whigs by Clicking Here!