Pete Townshend Might Use Quarantine Time in the Studio to Work on New Music for The Who

It hasn’t been a long time since The Who released new music — the legendary rock band‘s 2019 album, WHO, was released in December and capped off a triumphant Moving On! 50th anniversary tour.

And yet, with the world on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, guitarist Pete Townshend said this week that he’ll be using some of this unexpected free time to work on new Who music.

In a chat with the BBC and host Matt Everett, Townshend essentially said he views this mandated time alone as a blessing, since it more or less forces him to work on music:

“I have to say I feel really lucky because what I do mainly is spend a lot of time on my own in the studio. I feel like I’ve been given an answer to a prayer I don’t think I would have had the guts to do, which is to say, ‘Please cancel everything and give me some time in the studio!’ It feels like a gift,” said Pete Townshend in the chat, as quoted by Rolling Stone.

He added that he is looking to release “Beads on One String” as a single from the record, saying, “The other thing I’ve done is looked at the possibility of starting work early — I was going to do this next year — but starting work early on writing new songs for another Who album, as the last one did so well. So, I’m knocking ideas around.”

The sudden studio time was a result of the coronavirus and quarantine restrictions put in place in the name of safety — the same reasoning behind The Who postponing additional Moving On! tour dates to the fall.

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The April and May stops on The Who’s Moving On! Tour are proactively being rescheduled to the fall/autumn out of an abundance of caution. As soon as we have the dates finalized we’ll share the updated schedule, and all tickets will be honoured accordingly. Thank you for your understanding. Both Pete and Roger – and the rest of The Who band – cannot wait to get out there and be with you all and share in some great music. Long live rock!

A post shared by The Who (@officialthewho) on Mar 28, 2020 at 3:37am PDT

Listening to WHO, it was apparent that Townshend had plenty of creative ideas at his disposal. A lengthy record from himself, Roger Daltrey and various accompanying musicians, the album was loaded with intriguing direction, the Who’s signature snappy lyrics and defiance and an overall feeling that yes, the band still has quite a lot to say.

Daltrey summed up his enthusiasm about the Who’s newer material in a chat with Rock Cellar about the record, saying:

When they hear real instruments being played really well with really good arrangements and with a really good rock band giving it some stick like Townshend does and the way I sing, it’s fucking mega! It makes every hair on your body stand up, doesn’t it?

Roger Daltrey: On The Who’s New Album ‘WHO,’ His Creative Process With Pete Townshend and Getting Old (The Interview)

On that note, here’s hoping Townshend comes up with some killer material during the weeks/months ahead.