Good Charlotte are entering a new phase in their career, announcing their eighth studio album Motel Du Cap and releasing its lead single “Rejects” – their first full-length project in seven years.
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, brothers Joel and Benji Madden reflected on the unexpected moment that reignited the band: a performance at Sofia Richie’s wedding in April 2023 at the iconic Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the South of France. It was their first live show in five years.
“We had such a great night, and we were all sitting around, and we were like, ‘Should we do an album?’ The whole band was like, ‘Fuck yeah, yes, let’s do an album,'”Joel Madden explained.
The album’s title, Motel Du Cap, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to that glamorous night. “Motel Du Cap feels more appropriate. There’s always a little coloured sarcasm in our music, there’s a little tongue-in-cheek,” Benji Madden noted.
Lead single “Rejects” channels classic Good Charlotte energy with a more mature edge. It includes the vulnerable line, “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t born at all,” which Joel clarified to Rolling Stone isn’t about suicidal thoughts, but the shared human feeling of struggle. “It’s OK to admit that sometimes things are hard. That honesty makes the song powerful.”
Motel Du Cap features a range of collaborations, including country newcomer Luke Borchelt, rapper Wiz Khalifa, and production input from Charlie Puth. The record was primarily produced by Jordan Fish (formerly of Bring Me the Horizon), with additional contributions from Zakk Cervini and the Madden brothers themselves.
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Now seasoned both as artists and as founders of their management company MDDN, the Maddens say this return feels authentic and pressure-free.
“We don’t give a fuck, in a great way,” Joel explained. “Our families are really the centre of our lives. So Good Charlotte is something that we get to be totally free in. We don’t necessarily need it to perform. We actually just need it to be itself.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Good Charlotte revealed plans to tour the album globally in 2026, though they’re still determining the scope. “We are going to do a world tour in ’26, and I don’t know if that means it’s 20 shows or 40 shows or 60 shows, but whatever it is, it’s a number that we feel every show has to feel unique and special,” Joel revealed.
‘We just haven’t toured in a meaningful way in probably 10 years or so. There’s so many people that will be seeing us for the first time, and we want to make it special and exciting that they finally get to see us. It’s going to be a really fun show with lots of cool little surprises and things that make people happy.’
Still, family remains their top priority. “The only thing we’re always ever worried about is how much time any of it will take away from our families,” Joel admitted. “What we don’t want to do is make it at the cost of them.”
