Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
It’s been 16 years since the Red Hot Chili Peppers released new music with legendary guitarist John Frusciante and yet it seems like no time has passed at all. While the announcement of Frusciante’s return (and Josh Klinghoffer’s departure) shocked fans in late 2019, the official band reunion was inevitably pushed to 2022 thanks to the pandemic. But now, fans who have been waiting patiently for more than a decade were finally rewarded last Friday when the band dropped their new single “Black Summer,” along with the announcement of the band’s 12th studio album Unlimited Love, arriving April 1st via Warner Records. After spending the weekend analyzing every aspect of the new song, new album and epic new video directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian), Music Existence pooled together everything we know about the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ grand return.
The Blues is Back
As a guitarist, John Frusciante has explored many ways to wave his mighty axe but nothing is more iconic to the ‘Frusciante sound’ than his Hendrix-style approach to blues based rock n’ roll. His modern twist on a classic sound has appeared throughout the Peppers’ catalogue on albums like Stadium Arcadium and Californication, and has finally made it’s return on “Black Summer.” The bluesy riffs and licks that exude through Frusciante’s 1962 Fender Stratocaster put a groove back into their music that has clearly been missing since his departure. The grandiose of the track’s chorus pairs beautifully to the soulful sounds of each verse and takes us back to the early 2000’s blues-rock boom.
