Alkaline Trio have released their latest single “Oblivion”, the first of a three to be produced by Blink-182’s Travis Barker.
The track is a reunites Barker and Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba, who served as co-vocalist and guitarist for Blink 182 between 2015 and 2022. It also marks the first recording to feature drummer Atom Willard, adding a head-bopping kick to the catchy single.
Barker said the recording sessions with Barker and Alkaline Trio was “such a treat.” He added that Skiba and Dan Adriano – bass and vocals – are “incredible lyricists, two of my all-time favourites.”
“The studio never feels like work, just a magical place to create. The process was so natural and easy, I could’ve kept going forever,” Barker said. “Really proud of these songs me, Matt, Dan, and Atom recorded.”
Skiba echoed the sentiment, saying “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a great time in the studio.”
“The idea to work with Travis came to me after guesting on a project he was producing at his studio,” he added. “I was blown away by how natural and amazing Travis is in the role of a producer and by the beauty and serenity of his studio.”
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Skiba revealed that they had initially planned to just just “do a cover we’d been playing with … but ended up with three new songs.”
“I already knew how great Travis is in the studio (from my time with Blink), beyond his great drumming and unique and out-of-the-box songwriting abilities. His vision and talent is the perfect fit for us.”
The former member recently joined Blink 182 in a guest appearance at their benefit concert for the Los Angeles wildfires in February.
Skiba replaced singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge in 2015 but then left Blink-182 in 2022 when DeLonge decided to rejoin the band.
As Blink prepared to play “Bored to Death”, singer-bassist Mark Hoppus introduced Skiba as a “contest winner” to join DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker on stage. The song choice was a natural one – “Bored to Death” featured on Blink-182’s 2016 album California, one of two which Skiba contributed to.
Alkaline Trio’s “Oblivion” is out now.
