“ One often looks back on their past, whether it be with regret or fondness or both, and for me, I’ve gone through a lot of heavy shit ”

- Johnny Stevens

Author Bio: AC Speed I started my career as a music journalist in 2013 and have been involved in the music industry as a touring musician, studio engineer and artist consultant since 2002, as well as previously being a signed artist. My passion for delivering high quality, informative music-related news is a daily driving force behind the content I create. Also a huge gaming nerd! Born in the United Kingdom and currently living in Sweden. Skål! CONTACT ME HERE

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August 2019 saw the return of Highly Suspect announcing a brand new album, MCID, as well as releasing two new singles, ‘16’ & ‘Upperdrugs’. MCID is set for release November 1, 2019, and we may be in for a shock in terms of the musical path Johnny Stevens and co have decided to take with their next record.“The only thing I don’t like is rock. Is that crazy?” Says Stevens, speaking to Billboard magazine in a new interview . The Boy Who Died Wolf, released in 2016, whilst heavily based around the classic “Rock” sound with hints of electronica and even Hip Hop in parts, was a hugely successful record for the Massachusetts hopefuls, landing them a Number One spot in the US Alt Charts. So, it may come as a shock to some to hear that the new record could be totally void of Rock Music.My Name Is Human, and Little One, which became huge Rock anthems, have racked up close to 100 Million streams on Spotify alone. However, singer Johnny Stevens has stated that the band are actually bored of Rock Music and Stevens himself has been a Hip-Hop fan long before he was a Rock fan. “There’s just so much good music out there and as a band, we got bored of our own guitar, drum and bass thing.” says Stevens. “I’ve been doing hip-hop longer than I’ve been doing rock, and no one knows that because the rock band is what’s been successful. It’s my favorite form of music and we finally decided to incorporate it into a recorded album.”Discussing the direction of the new record, MCID, Johnny says “We did it the correct way and produced our own beats and made real hip-hop songs. I don’t want to get that corny sounding shit. The hip-hop in the song is full blast and I’m stoked that the world is finally going to know that this is something we’ve been wanting to do in the public eye and never got to do.”It looks like Highly Suspect fans can expect a completely different record to their previous offerings. Their new single, ‘16’ doesn’t even display any guitar work so the band are clearly serious about taking on a new aspect of their musical talents.“Fuck that, let’s just make stuff that is sonically sick and big. Let’s use every instrument that we’d like to use and worry about how we’re going to figure it out live later.”Whilst, ‘Upperdrugs’, offers more of their classic powerful Rock sound, the rest of MCID could take us all by surprise! Either way, it’s great to see Rock bands challenging their own sound, and the norm.