Andrew McMahon has had many faces in the music industry — the singer-songwriter began his career by fronting the early 2000s pop punk band Something Corporate, then transitioned to alternative group Jack’s Mannequin, before releasing his solo album Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness , using the LP’s name as his stage moniker as well, in 2014. Now, McMahon is preparing his second release for Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, and he tells EW, “I think this record’s going to be the best I’ve ever made.”

“I actually just took the subway over from the studio and I’ll be taking it back as soon as I’m done,” McMahon told EW on the red carpet at Live Nation’s National Concert Day.

So what can fans expect from this new album? McMahon teased that he’s experimenting with different genres for the collection, which has allowed him to create what he described as a “completely new evolution I haven’t done before.”

“This sort of globalization of music and the way that genres have finally just like blended, it’s freed up so much space in the studio to just experiment with sounds that I think would’ve been taboo before,” McMahon said. “I was working on a track and was like ‘I want to hear a disco string that reminds me of ‘Billie Jean,’ and there was a time when I probably wouldn’t have been able to utter those words in a studio and get away with it… I think there’s a freedom in this process right now, and I’ve had so much time to write and work on songs for this record that we’ve really curated it down to this batch that link up and have a lot of heart, and I feel really good about them.”

But fans will still be able to count on hearing McMahon’s signature sound on the collection, which doesn’t yet have a release date or an album title. “It’s always going to be centered around a voice and a piano. But I love this infusion of electronic music with organic elements, and the ability to have live drums and programmed drums and all these things interacting. You will have this blend of sounds that will be really unique to this record.”