Melisma/Atlantic recording group Matchbox Twenty—Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette, Kyle Cook and Brian Yale—has returned to the studio to record new material for the first time in five years. Grammy-winning producer Steve Lillywhite is overseeing the sessions in Los Angeles, marking the band’s first work with the renowned producer, whose credits include U2, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Peter Gabriel and Talking Heads. The new Matchbox Twenty tracks, which also mark the band’s first recordings as a foursome, will be included on a retrospective hits collection titled Exile On Mainstream, slated for release on October 2.
“For the first time, we’re all writing as a band,” says lead singer Rob Thomas. “In the past, I would write all the songs and the guys would write all their parts. Now it’s a band in the hand. We all fight it out; we fight over melodies and lyrics. It’s completely unique from anything we’ve done before.”
Matchbox Twenty’s previous studio album, the RIAA double-Platinum More Than You Think You Are, was released in November 2002, and earned two Grammy nominations and two American Music Award nominations. The band reunited at the end of 2005 to play two special New Year’s Eve shows in Las Vegas.
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