Photo: James Minchin III
When Linkin Park announced its comeback with a new singer, Emily Armstrong, the news was met with polarizing reactions. Some fans and people close to the late Chester Bennington seemed to welcome the new vocalist, while others condemned the reunion.
The new lineup consists of Armstrong and original members Mike Shinoda (co-vocalist, multi-instrumentalist), Joe Hahn (turntablist), Brad Delson (guitar), and Dave Farrell (bass), along with new drummer Colin Brittain; however, Delson has not been a part of the reunion tour. Shinoda and Armstrong recorded a podcast ahead of the news dropping and recently shared it on Linkin Park's YouTube channel. During the conversation, Shinoda discussed the new lineup's culture, calling it "easily the best" the band's had in its career.
“The dynamic of everybody in the band, but especially those of us that have the most history together, the dynamic is so good. It’s really good. To me, it’s easily the best culture we’ve had,” he declared. “I’m not saying that as a knock on the old line-up. I’m saying that specifically about the growth of Brad and Joe and Dave and me. Everybody is in a really good place and part of that is maybe the gratitude of being able to do it again."
“What’s your favorite thing to do in the world, and now imagine you get that taken away. You can’t do it. It’s gone," Shinoda explained. "And then living in that for a while and then coming back later and being like, ‘Ok, guess what? You can have it back.’ That’s a f***ing crazy feeling.”
Linkin Park is gearing up to release FROM ZERO on November 15. It'll be their first new album since Bennington took his own life in 2017. Listen to the full conversation between Shinoda and Armstrong below.