Goo Goo Dolls announce 13th studio album

Chaos in Bloom will be released Aug 12th

Goo Goo Dolls have announced their new 13th studio album, Chaos in Bloom, will arrive on CD and LP on August 12th via Warner Records. Marking the first album of their career to be produced by frontman John Rzeznik, the record finds the band at the top of their game and continuing to constantly evolve just as they have for nearly four decades together. Consisting of 10 tracks, Chaos in Bloom is an album of biting sarcasm, stadium-ready choruses, and the type of spear-sharp songwriting that’s led them to becoming one of the most influential alternative rock groups of all time.

While Chaos in Bloom isn’t necessarily an album born out by the pandemic, many of the tracks reflect on all of the things in daily life that became amplified while everyone was isolated from one another and sequestered at home.

“Chaos in Bloom reminded us how special this whole thing is and to cherish the relationships that we have together,” says Rzeznik about the album. “Where we’ve been, and where we’re going.”

Oscillating from personal reflections on the state of the world to societal commentaries, the songs on the album grapple with observations about our dystopian modernity while searching for optimism and pushing for a more empathetic world.

“I’ve been trying to have a relationship with the bigger picture,” adds bassist and songwriter Robby Takac, “and refining happiness and what it means from that perspective.”

To record the album, Rzeznik and Takac retreated to Dreamland Studios just outside Woodstock, New York during the pandemic. An environment as remote as it is rich with historic rock music roots, the location proved to be the perfect setting for clearing the noise and creating such a record, which carries a true live quality that the band captured by blending vintage instruments and gear with new-age recording processes and techniques.

Alongside the announcement, the band has shared the first taste of the album “Yeah, I Like You.” As the intro track featured on Chaos in Bloom, the song ignites the record with a rousing acoustic guitar line that hits like a gut punch, with lyrics that effortlessly critique our celebrity culture, and the people who work so hard to look so disaffected while masking insecurities with false self-assuredness.

“In a world that is just drowning in social media and internet stars, many of whom are certainly talented, but many confirm that in 2022 you can be famous for doing nothing,” says Rzeznik. “Celebrity in this age has a very quick burn. It was hard not to be consumed by it during the pandemic.”

For the first time since 2019, the band will embark on a sprawling nationwide tour this summer. Set to kick off on July 15th at Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater in Nampa, ID, the nationwide tour will see the band performing songs from Chaos in Bloom for the first time ever along with other tracks from their complete discography at iconic outdoor venues spanning North America, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, and Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY. Blue October will provide support for the entire run. Goo Goo Dolls will be partnering with the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation for the tour, a nonprofit founded in 2002 by Ali and Joe Torre to provide healing and education services to youth who have been traumatized by exposure to violence including domestic violence, child abuse, teen dating abuse, and sexual assault to help break the cycle of violence.

Goo Goo Dolls’ older songs have actually been seeing this incredible resurgence the past two years too. “Iris” is on track to cross one billion streams on Spotify soon, was recently been covered by Phoebe Bridgers & Maggie Rodgers. The song has been discovered by younger generations on TikTok, which has helped the song reach 7x Platinum status this year and re-enter multiple Billboard charts for the first time in years.