Smashing Pumpkins Give Fans Update On 'Big' And 'Epic' New Album

By Katrina Nattress

April 22, 2022

Photo: Jonathan Weiner

Smashing Pumpkins "big" and "epic" new album is done, according to Jeff Schroeder.

The band's longtime guitarist revealed the news during a recent interview. Though he admitted there's “nothing I can give details on quite yet,” he did insinuate that the album would come out this year and teased that the Pumpkins had “some pretty exciting announcements [to make] at some point during [their upcoming North American tour].”

The album will be the band's 12th overall and complete the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina trilogy. Billy Corgan first announced the project over a year ago, revealing on Instagram that it would feature 33 songs.

Last summer, Schroeder was much more forthright while explaining the project in an interview. “We’re about halfway through working on another big album, which is, basically, I guess, a sequel to ‘Mellon Collie [And The Infinite Sadness]’ and ‘Machina’, so it’s the third in a trilogy – more of a concept-based album. And this one is 33 songs,” the guitarist explained at the time. “We’ve been working for a long – almost, basically, the whole year on it. But we’re in the middle of real tracking and stuff right now. James [Iha] and I are working out here in LA. Drums are basically done, so Jimmy’s [Chamberlin] done his part. But Billy [Corgan] is working in Chicago, and I’m out here in LA, and James is in LA, so we’re plowing through it. That’ll probably take most of the rest of the year, ’cause it’s a big, sprawling thing.”

Schroeder went on to explain how challenging the project has been because of its size. “Even for me as a guitar player, usually you’re always kind of working on things and you have a bunch of ideas to try on these new tracks,” he said. “And then, after four songs, you’re like, ‘Okay, I’ve gotta come up with some other stuff.’ So, then you work hard and get through the first 11 songs, and you’re. like, ‘Oh, wait a second. That’s only the first act. I’ve got two more acts to go!'”

“So, you’ve really gotta dig in deep. You’ve gotta dig deep in to your soul to find out what is in there," he added. "What’s this song calling for? How can I listen to this song differently than I listened to the last one? And it really pushes you artistically. Some days it’s hard, and we fail. I fail. And then you come back the next day and try again, and it’s rewarding when you go, ‘Wow, yesterday sucked, and today is actually quite good on the same song.’ So it can be fun.”

The Pumpkins embark on their tour next week. See a full list of dates here.

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