13 Voices

''13 Voices'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Sum 41, released on October 7, 2016. It is the first Sum 41 album to be released through independent label Hopeless Records after the band fulfilled their contract with major label Island Records. It is also Sum 41's first album to feature drummer Frank Zummo, who replaced original drummer Steve Jocz, and their first album to feature guitarist Tom Thacker. The album also features the return of longtime lead guitarist Dave Baksh (who left in 2006 and returned in 2015). The album is also their first as a five-piece band, as it features both Baksh and Thacker on lead guitar. On May 11, 2016, the band announced that they had signed to Hopeless Records to release the crowd-funded project.

Background

On July 9, 2015, the band launched a PledgeMusic campaign for its comeback album. On July 23, 2015, the band played its comeback show at the Alternative Press Music Awards, which featured former lead guitarist Dave Baksh, joining the group on stage nine years after officially leaving the band. Sum 41 announced Baksh’s official return on August 14, 2015, and also announced that he will join the band in the studio. On December 26, 2015, Sum 41 teased two new songs on its Instagram account. On January 1, 2016, Deryck Whibley revealed that the album was nearing completion via the band's social media.

The band performed on the 2016 Warped Tour. On April 19, 2016, Whibley published that Sum 41 was finishing the album. On May 11, 2016, Sum 41 announced its signing to Hopeless Records.

The release's final song "Twisted by Design" replaces " With Me" (from 2007's ''Underclass Hero'') as the band's longest song to date, with a running time of 5 minutes and 28 seconds.

Development

On November 26, 2012, the band members revealed that they were taking a break from touring in 2013 to begin work on a new record. On April 18, 2013, drummer Jocz announced he would be leaving the band via his official Facebook page, leaving Whibley as the sole founding member of the band. In an interview on February 7, 2014, Deryck revealed that the band has possibly found a new drummer and would be premiering new music "soon". The expected sixth album would have been the band's first with Whibley and McCaslin as the only two remaining members from the group's "classic line-up", until Baksh's return in 2015, which also marks his first album with Sum 41 since 2004's ''Chuck''. The album is the band's first to feature drummer Frank Zummo, as well as their first album as a five-piece.

On May 16, 2014, Deryck Whibley posted on an entry on his personal website, explaining that he had a liver and kidney failure due to extensive drinking. He has explained that he has been in treatment in the hospital for a month, and now upon release, he will be taking care of his health, while continue working on new music. He also stated that he had some ideas for new songs already, and that the band would be soon starting to make a new album. On June 9, 2014, Deryck Whibley has stated on his personal Facebook page that he was working on new Sum 41 music out of his home studio to get ready to record some new music soon. On June 29, 2014, Whibley posted an entry on his website, entitled "getting ready to record drums", with photos of him setting up the drum kit for recording.

Promotion and release

On June 6, 2016, Sum 41 announced that the group's sixth studio album would be titled ''13 Voices'' and that the album is scheduled for release on October 7, 2016. The cover art and tracklist were also revealed that same day. "Fake My Own Death", the band's first new song in five years, was released on June 28, 2016. The song was released as an instant grat for pre-ordering the album on iTunes. The song was performed on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' on October 3, 2016. Deryck stated that the first official single had not yet been picked and the band wanted to put out new music to hold the fans over. The album's first official single "War", was released on August 25, 2016. The album's eighth track, "God Save Us All (Death to Pop)" was released (along with a live music video) on September 29, 2016. In early 2017, Sum 41 invited fans via Facebook and Instagram for the shooting of the music video for "Goddamn I'm Dead Again" in San Pedro, CA released May 3, 2017.

Tour

The Don't Call It a Sum-Back Tour is a concert tour that was announced on August 8, 2016. It started October 5 and concluded on March 19, 2017.

Musical style

''13 Voices'' has been stated as being heavy metal, punk rock, alternative metal, alternative rock, and as moving even further away from their pop punk roots. Bradley Zorgdrager of Exclaim! described it as "a fusion between metal and radio-friendly pop punk"

Critical reception

''13 Voices'' has received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 76 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 5 reviews.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 22 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, with first week sales of 16,100 copies. The album was the ninth highest selling album of the week (pure sales). It has reached higher positions than the band's sophomore album, especially in the UK where it was their first Top 20 albums since "All Killer No filler". Impala
awarded the album with a double gold award for 150,000 sold copies across Europe.

Track listing

Personnel

Sum 41
* Deryck Whibley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, piano
* Dave Baksh – lead guitar, backing vocals
* Tom Thacker – rhythm and lead guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
* Jason McCaslin – bass guitar, backing vocals
* Frank Zummo – drums, percussion, occasional backing vocals

Production
* Deryck Whibley – production, engineering
* Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
* Ted Jensen – mastering
* Jimmy Pfann – assistant engineering (Legends Studios)
* William Delaney – assistant engineering (EastWest Studios)
* Andy Ford – assistant engineering (EastWest Studios)
* Michael Freeman – assistant engineering (EastWest Studios)
* Tyler Shields – assistant engineering (EastWest Studios)
* Dan Moyse – drum tech

Managerial and design
* Ron Lafitte – management
* Chris Nary – management
* Michael Cortada – cover artwork
* Chris Hansen – art & layout

Charts

References

External links

Sum 41
on Myspace

{{Authority control

Sum 41 albums
2016 albums
Hopeless Records albums