CHEVELLE drummer Sam Loeffler has confirmed to the Lazer 103.3 radio station that the band has commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2016's "The North Corridor" album. "We've got about half a record that we've been working on forever," he said (hear audio below). "Pete [Loeffler, guitar/vocals] always has songs that he's working on, so when we start to write, we have a really good amount of stuff to pool from, which is great. So, yeah, we've been just taking our time. We all try to get a little bit of life in between there, but we're writing, we're doing a few songs here and there, and it's actually been a great summer. I'm excited about the music, so that's a bonus."

According to Sam, touring for the past two years in support of "The North Corridor" has helped shape the direction of CHEVELLE's new material.

"After you've finished a record, you don't really listen to it at all, because it's difficult — you've spent all that time working on it and doing it, and then to go and listen to it would be a lot more work," he said. "So you really hear those songs when you tour on them and play them, and then that really does give you an idea of what you wanna do next."

CHEVELLE's 2014 album, "La Gargola", gave the band its highest chart debut (No. 3) and produced a No. 1 single on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in "Take Out The Gunman".

"The North Corridor" debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced another No. 1 Mainstream Rock single, "Joyride (Omen)". The disc featured songwriting by Pete, who was working with producer Joe Baressi through the Internet.

Photo credit: Christian Lantry