In the first concrete report of writing activity, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus said the band were aiming to release a new album “faster than you think,” although he declined to offer much detail.

Members of the Not in This Lifetime lineup of the band, active since 2016, have been cautious about answering questions about a follow-up to 2008’s  Chinese Democracy, after that LP’s difficult gestation period meant it was almost impossible for the material to live up to the hype. Frontman Axl Rose recently said, “You never know,” when asked about new music. On the last show of the near-three-year world tour earlier this month, he told fans, “we had to get through this first… we can’t do what’s new until we finish this.”

Asked about Rose’s comments, Fortus told KSHE95, “We’re going to try… try and do another record, get it out soon…” On the subject of its potential high quality, he said, “How could it not be? The band’s so great right now.” He added, “I think it’ll happen faster than you think. I sure hope it happens faster than you think!”

You can listen to the key part of the interview below:

While he wouldn’t divulge whether any schedule was in place or how much work had been completed, he did say that the release of new music by the end of 2019 “could definitely happen” and “there might be stuff started.”

Fortus continued, “We’re hoping to get one out very soon,” although it wasn’t clear whether he meant a new song or the whole LP. The band had no plans for any further live dates, he added, and a new tour would depend “on whether or not we have a new record out. That’s why we want to do it, get new stuff out there.”

On the subject of how Rose might approach the new material’s lyrics, he said the frontman had “a lot to write about,” and added that he wasn’t sure about the assertion that the singer’s lifestyle had changed from the excessive ‘80s period. “Has it?” Fortus asked. “How sure are you about this? I don’t know how different it is. He’s a different cat, for sure. I mean, I didn’t know him back then, but he’s a solid dude now.”

 

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