Angels and Airwaves is a band formed by blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge alongside Hazen Street and Box Car Racer guitarist David Kennedy, ex-The Distillers bassist Ryan Sinn and The Offspring drummer Atom Willard. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, DeLonge trademarked "Angels and Airwaves" on June 24, 2005 amidst the lingering confusion of blink-182’s abruptly announced hiatus. Their debut album, We Don’t Need to Whisper, will be released on May 23rd. Their announced first single, "Valkyrie Missile", was set for a March/April release, but following the subsequent leaking of the song "The Adventure", the label has chosen to release it in its place. DeLonge personally claims that his new project will be "the best music made in decades" as well as being "much more powerful, emotional and melodic than Box Car Racer and blink put together."
History
In an interview with British magazine Kerrang! DeLonge commented about the band’s beginning: "Just before all the blink-182 shit happened when we were in Europe, I had a really weird epiphany. My heart was beating about a hundred miles a minute for three weeks straight and it had never happened to me before in my life. I really felt like I’d been touched by something and I felt I was meant to do something massive."
In the same interview he has given clues for what to expect: "It sounds like it has the conceptual depth of Pink Floyd, the anthemic architecture of U2 but with Tom from blink writing all the melodies. All the songs are very cinematic, anthemic and epic-sounding. The music sounds angelic. Every song gives you the chills and you feel like you want to cry but you’re conquering the world at the same time. It sounds like stadium rock done by a band that’s meant to be the absolute biggest band in the world." Recording of their debut album took place at the Foo Fighters‘ studio; the release date is May 23, (US) 2006, according to the band’s Myspace.
In addition to the corresponding release of the album, DeLonge, along with bandmates Atom Willard, Ryan Sinn and David Kennedy, is currently working and prepping for the release of a movie. The WWII based movie is done mainly in CGI similar to how Pink Floyd generated "The Wall". This "story" is apparently based upon Tom’s life and will give insight into the hiatus of blink-182. As of yet, the only known cast member in the movie is Michael Ostman.
Many blink-182 fans have been speculating what has become of the close friendship between members since the blink-182 "hiatus". Tom has said the following: "I love Mark and Travis to death. They were my best friends in the world, and I miss them tremendously. At the end, our priorities were mad different, and I haven’t spoke to them since [the hiatus]. So instead of talking, I just made this album and this film. There’s a storyline that runs throughout it, it’s autobiographical, I felt like I lost my two best friends, I lost the band I created, and I did it all for my family. And so I decided to write the album and make the movie about my life. But rather than sit there and whine, I used analogies about love and war, because that’s what this whole thing was like. Playing music in the wake of the Blink thing was like finding love in the middle of a war zone."
"The songs are all six minutes long, and [the music] feels like you’re going to cry but you put your fist in the air and you can conquer the world… It’s built on a punk-rock foundation, but it definitely doesn’t sound like blink." DeLonge cites this work as the most incredible music not only that he has written, but that he has ever heard. "Imagine if you were in a jet plane, soaring through the clouds. That’s what it sounds like." The band had hoped to have put a song online before Christmas but this was delayed, with the currently 10-song, almost 50 minute long album following this May.
The band was supposed to release a song on iTunes on December 13th 2005 (Tom DeLonge’s 30th birthday), but due to discussions with their record label Geffen, they decided to push the release date back to a later date in the next year. Instead, the Angels and Airwaves website produced the first ever glimpse at the movie currently in production, a 1-and-a-half minute long trailer featuring approximately 40 seconds of music, which is most likely a preview of the band’s music style. It seems, as DeLonge promised, to be a totally different sound than blink-182 and Box Car Racer.
It is interesting to note that Plus-44, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker’s new band, released their debut song the same day Angels and Airwaves were set to release their song. Many fans speculate that this indicates a rift between the two bands. For months there has been speculation about the relationship of the three ex-bandmates, namely that they had not spoken since the blink-182 hiatus. This release, and also the haunting vocals and the lyrical content of the Plus-44’s "No It Isn’t", especially the lines - "Please understand/This isn’t just goodbye/This is I can’t stand you", has further fuelled the rumours that the former friends harbour bitter feelings for each other. When Hoppus was a guest on Loveline recently a fan asked him what happened with Tom. Mark replied "I haven’t spoken with Tom in a very long time," further fuelling speculation of a rift.
Song leaks
On February 3rd, the first full-length song from the album was leaked through the internet. It lasts five minutes and forty seconds and shows the band’s previously stated style and departure from previous works. Listeners have described the song’s Edge-like guitars and 80’s synths sound like a cross between The Alarm, The Killers and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me-era Cure, with DeLonge’s trademark blink-182 vocal harmonies and guitar melodies on top. It gives the listener a very clear idea of what direction the band is taking. The song quickly leaked onto many fansites. DeLonge himself commented in a MySpace bulletin sent to his fans about the leak in a humble manner and revealed some more information about the song: "The version you are hearing is not the actual final version, but a rough concept. I have been working restless nights on a cool short film that was to debut the actual song ‘The Adventure‘ within a few short days….it will be released within the next 2 weeks with the launch of our website." It is notable to say that this song will not be the band’s first single. The video is purely for dedicated fans’ entertainment. The song and video can now be heard/seen on the band’s official website.
On February 15th, a second song titled "Good Day" was released on the internet by an unknown source, surprising many since Tom DeLonge hadn’t announced this title to be on their upcoming album. The lyrics to the song can also be seen on the AVA trailer, which was released months before the actual song was leaked. Also, at the beginning of the song, a voice can be heard, at a very low volume, whispering "We Don’t Need To Whisper", the title of the forthcoming album.
On March 20th, Tom Delonge appeared on San Diego, CA radio station FM 949 and played some snippets of songs from the album, and one full song. The snippets played were: "A Little’s Enough", "It Hurts", " and "Valkyrie Missile." A full length version of "The Gift" was also played. "The Adventure" entered radio stations’ playlists at the beginning of April.
Band members
Discography
Albums
