From Zero

From Zero
Studio album by Linkin Park
Released:	November 15, 2024
Label:	Warner Records
Linkin Park studio album chronology One More Light (2017) From Zero (2024)

From Zero is the upcoming eighth studio album by Linkin Park, set for release on November 15, 2024. From Zero is the first Linkin Park album to not feature Rob Bourdon, following his departure from the band in 2022-2023, and the first to feature new band members Emily Armstrong (vocals) and Colin Brittain (drums, co-producer).

Background

As far back as October 2017, Linkin Park was seen together at Mike Shinoda's home studio, setting up gear and rehearsing for the Hollywood Bowl tribute show for Chester Bennington. Mike commented that it had been since the Xero days since the band had put their gear together in one small room just to jam together.

Linkin Park had three shows scheduled in Tokyo, Japan in fall 2017 that were not originally canceled when the One More Light North American Tour was canceled, but the band issued a statement on October 3, 2017, saying, "We have been looking forward to being with all of you, but unfortunately cannot play our previously scheduled performances in Tokyo. Until now, we have not communicated about our November shows because we sincerely wished to play, even in the wake of Chester's passing. We are working each day to grieve, heal, and work towards stepping on stage together without our dear friend. We are so grateful for your love and support. Our sincere appreciation for your kind understanding."

At the Hollywood Bowl show, Mike debuted a new song in memory of Chester, titled 'Looking For An Answer.' He commented about the band, "But if we do continue, I want to continue to build on this song and keep writing it and keep working on it. And it’ll be a really unique time for you guys, for us to be able to share with you guys a glimpse into how a song gets made. So this is literally the first piece, and then after this, you know, on our Instagram and Twitter and everything else, we’ll show you guys how it goes, assuming it goes." At this point, it was assumed that the band was intending to try to keep moving forward based on Mike's statement.

On December 15, 2017 during the listening party for One More Light Live, Mike Shinoda said that he sent the band a version of the song and he saw Rob Bourdon downloaded it, so he thought he would be adding drums to it. Mike went live on Instagram once again on December 19 while working on the song, giving fans the first preview of its studio version.

On January 25, 2018, Mike replied to a fan asking him about Linkin Park on Twitter saying, "I have every intention on continuing with LP, and the guys feel the same. We have a lot of rebuilding to do, and questions to answer, so it’ll take time."

In interviews for From Zero, Mike stated that the band first started collaborating with Emily Armstrong in 2019. Originally he, Dave Farrell, and Joe Hahn were writing music just to write music and were collaborating with a lot of artists. There was no point in the early process where they said "this is Linkin Park music" or "we should call this Linkin Park." However, despite starting music as early as 2019, Mike said that progress was stop-and-go and there was not a lot of momentum on the musical side of things. In April 2019, Joe Hahn said that the band was not discussing detailed Linkin Park plans but they wanted to just focus on the present and talk about music. The next month, Mike and Joe posted photos on Instagram with Rob, saying they were "plotting." At the end of 2019, Mike, Dave, and Joe participated in a Mercedes AMG commercial shoot together at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles.

One year later in April 2020, Dave Farrell said that Linkin Park was not done as a band - they were still continually writing and working on new music. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the band was eating together on Zoom and saying hi, but they were working on writing. He specifically mentioned he was enjoying learning the drums to do something new. Mike stated in May 2020 that Linkin Park was not over but it is a deep question to ask about that. In October 2020, Brad Delson said that a lot with the band is undefined but the possibility for new music is wide open.

Fall of 2020 brought the highly-anticipated Hybrid Theory 20 box set by Linkin Park. On October 9, 2020, Linkin Park world premiered the DVD online with a full band Q&A for fans. The announcement read, "Q&A WITH LINKIN PARK + PROJEKT REVOLUTION 2002. As we continue the celebration of #HybridTheory20, join Brad, Dave, Joe, Mike & Rob for a special Q&A hosted by Allison Hagendorf + a premiere of the never before seen Linkin Park performance from Projekt Revolution 2002." As it later turned out in 2024, this would be the last visual appearance of Rob Bourdon with the band although he remained in the band at least for two more years, through 2022. Notably, Rob has personal notes included about songs inside of the booklet.

In October 2021, a year after Brad's comment, Mike told Ted Stryker that he could physically still tour but that it is not the time for the band's return.

Spring 2022 brought a few updates on the band. Mike said that the band still talked every few weeks, but now was not the time to start a hype train about the band. Linkin Park launched a series titled, "Notes from the Band" in May 2022, saying, "We thought it was about time to begin sharing a little more regularly with you. ... There's no concrete plan, but that's what we like about it." The note was signed by the full band - Rob, Brad, Dave, Joe, and Mike. When Rob Bourdon did not participate in writing a note that year, Mike was asked about it on Discord and replied in December 2022, "Rob may someday be available for notes, but is currently available for notes."

2023 brought a lot to the world of Linkin Park, with the release of the massively successful 'Lost' on the Meteora 20 box set. In 2024, Mike said that around the time of the release of the song, he, Dave Farrell, and Joe Hahn were intentionally trying to spend more time together. At the time in 2023, Mike told Nicole Alvarez of KROQ, "I'll say this way. Normally, I'm really trying to just manage expectations a little bit, especially lately in the last few years. It's like, there are certain things that are going to be on the table, certain things that are off the table. With this release, shockingly, I was like, 'I don't think there's very much to say it's off the table. Touring is the only thing, we're not touring right now. But the rest of their imagination, where I know their heads are gonna go, it's like, 'Oh, is there this? Is there that? Can we do this? Can we do that?'... I think to a lot of that it's a yes."

Over the years between Linkin Park albums, Mike Shinoda had released a variety of music, from the 2018 album Post Traumatic to 2021's ZIGGURATS EP, along with a variety of singles. His last single, released in October 2023, was titled 'Already Over' and was featured on his Crimson Chapter EP. Mike said, "'Already Over' came to me as I was sitting with my favorite guitar in my hands—the same guitar I used on songs from 'What I've Done' to 'In My Head.' There was a familiar DNA to the song that I think Linkin Park fans will recognize. For me, it creates a bridge from the past to a blurry but exciting future." The track was featured on Linkin Park's "This is Linkin Park" playlist on Spotify.

Rob Bourdon's Departure from Linkin Park

Rob Bourdon was involved with the band all the way from the 2017 break to at least the middle of 2022, as he was a co-signer of the aforementioned "Notes From the Band" series Linkin Park was doing.

Mike described Rob Bourdon coming to the band sometime in the middle-to-end of 2022 and saying that he wanted to leave Linkin Park.

Mike said, "And we understood that — it was already apparent. He was starting to just show up less, be in less contact, and I know the fans noticed it too. The Hybrid Theory rerelease [Editor's Note: Rob was there for the Hybrid Theory 20 box set, but was absent from the Meteora 20 box set promotion] and Papercuts release, he didn’t show up for anything. So for me, as a friend, that was sad, but at the same time, I want him to do whatever makes him happy, and obviously everybody wishes him the best."

Mike added (to Zane Lowe, 2024), describing the situation, "We had a conversation a little while ago, a couple years ago at this point, where he said he wanted to step away. We didn't talk about that in public because we didn't know how that would work out. The fans noticed it, we released a bunch of things and he wasn't a part of any of the interviews or marketing. And that's why. We’ll always love the guy. We'll always respect the wonderful things we’ve built together. With his absence being a real thing, I was already working with Colin."

Writing and Recording

Mentioning the 2018 and 2019 writing sessions, Dave Farrell said, "Joe, Mike and myself were starting to write a little bit, or just get together and say, “Let’s do some stuff and see if we even like it; let’s be creative together.” There wasn’t an endgame to that, in my head at least. So that process continued moving forward over a period of years, and then the last maybe 18 months or so, accelerated quite a bit. I think me, Mike and Joe got a lot more intentional: “If this is ever going to have a chance to do anything, then let’s be intentional of spending time together. Let’s see what we come up with,” rather than spending a month doing stuff and then not doing stuff for 10 or 11 months."

Mike Shinoda said in 2019, the band was definitely communicating with each other less. The band got together in 2019, 2020, and 2021 to try and write music, but there was a lack of creative momentum, leading to sessions that would just start-and-stop. Emily Armstrong was involved in a few of the 2019 sessions at Mike's old home studio. Mike said Emily joined the full band later for an afternoon to work on music, and then years later joined them again. He added, "I did a couple other songs and worked with some other people. It was almost like everyone was just exploring the idea of other things, what other things are out there. At some point, I realized that the other things that I was doing were not as exciting, not as fulfilling, as this." Emily met Dave and Joe at Neptune Valley Studios in 2019.

When getting into the groove of writing what eventually became From Zero, Mike said it started with him, Dave Farrell, and Joe Hahn. Brad Delson eventually came in to the sessions a bit later. The sessions included musicians Mike had written music with in the previous few years, but the band was intentional to not call it "Linkin Park music" right away, instead just choosing to enjoy writing music with Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain.

Once things started moving quicker and the band entered EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, Mike told Emily to come join them as much as she wanted and that the band would be there for a certain amount of weeks. Emily immediately asked if she could come every day. Dave said, "In the midst of it, we didn’t know where it was going. I sincerely didn’t know if it was going to be something completely different than Linkin Park or a new version of it. In my head, I would shut down when I started asking myself, “OK, well, if this is new stuff, then how do you play old stuff?”

Mike noted that the band was not fully committed to a new lineup yet at the time and they were wondering if they needed a few vocalists on stage, as to not put expectations high on Emily. Dave said to Mike at the time, "I don’t want to half-ass anything. If we’re going to do something, let’s do it bold. If people don’t like it, so what? As long as we like it, and we’re confident, then let’s be bold with it!"

Early on in the album's creation, the music Mike, Dave, and Joe had been working on had no real direction. Mike described the process before Emily joined the sessions as "if it was a painting... then it starts with a blank canvas, and then we sketched something, and we erased it. And we sketched something, and we erased it... and slowly, it started to be like, 'maybe, this part's good, maybe that part's good...' and then we started to go, 'That's it,' and that's when [Emily] showed up." Some of the first demos Emily sang on were called 'Unshatter' and 'Vertigo,' the latter dated around 2019. This period was very slow and scattered, with them going through periods of not even seeing Emily for weeks or months. The demos from this period were inconsequential musically according to Mike, but were necessary for them to get to the first step of putting together the next Linkin Park album.

Around September 2023, Mike and the band wanted to get a feel from Emily on how she felt about things with Linkin Park. She had a vacation for a week coming up and the band decided to ask her about her feelings on things before she went on the trip. Emily describes it as, "They’re like, “Hey, um, just a couple questions.” And we were recording at the time. “Hey, so, you know, we got some shows coming up, and some big festival stuff. And, you know, it’s a year out, and we think that you’d be great. We think you could sing all the old songs, and we love what you do and what’s happening with this whole process…” I’m just like, “Cool, coo coo coo cool!” I had already talked to the people around me, and Dead Sara, who were like, “Absolutely. If they ask, it’s a no-brainer.” I’d already put my feelers out just to make sure, and they were putting their feelers out on me. It was like Melissa McCarthy in The Heat: “That’s why you don’t feed stray cats!” I had just kept showing up; I was the stray cat. But that was the moment."

She added, "So then imagine hearing that, and then you have to nonchalantly waltz back into the studio, and they’re like, “OK, Emily, let’s think of another line, we’re working on the verse!” I can’t fucking think of anything else, and I have to pretend that I’m not [freaking out]. I’m there for another few hours, and I’m just trying to play it cool, because they played it so cool. But there’s fucking no way you can process it. I remember we were there late that night, and afterward I was panicking in the best way: “Is it real?” For three days at least, I don’t ever remember touching the ground. And then everything was different when I came back down — knowing my life was going to be different, in the best way. I came back to a dreamland."

Mike described working with Colin Brittain in 2021 as having an experience where he immediately clicked with Colin. Colin plays guitar, bass, keyboards, as well as drums, and also produces and mixes music. Mike felt that he and Colin had a similar way of looking at music and they "clicked" when working together. He said that when Linkin Park started making music, it just felt natural to invite Colin over. The band was not interested in tryouts or auditions, but instead wanted to work with people they felt comfortable with and compatible with. Due to the previous sessions with Emily and Colin, it felt natural working with them again. The guys in the band also valued the fact that they were from a younger generation, offering a different perspective on music while also still having a wide amount of experience in their field.

Emily described her emotions as, "What is good for this band? What would be the ideal fit? The ideal voice?" She said she took herself out of the equation but thought that it would be really fun. She (and other members of the band) would struggle to keep the secret about joining the band and the return in general from her friends and family. Shinoda said a friend noticed something was up when they said, "you look great!" and caused Mike to tell him a bit of the secret.

When working on a song called 'Breathing Underwater,' Mike, Joe, and Dave brought Emily into a room and broke the news to her that they would be possibly playing some shows the next year and would like for her to join them. Mike said to her, "you played it very cool!" Emily claims that she was trying to work around their schedule. The members of Linkin Park also asked her at this time about Dead Sara and if she and her bandmates in Dead Sara were comfortable moving forward with this. At that point, she had not sang on any of the older music yet, but Mike said, "I could already imagine you doing the stuff that we ended up doing. And in fact, to your credit, you were better than I imagined." The offer the band received was for Rock in Rio, but the plans to perform at it fell through because the festival wanted to exclusively announce their comeback, intervening with the band's longterm plans for their return announcement.

Brad Delson said about Emily, "I don't know if I said this to anyone out loud, but I really felt like when I met Emily in-person, I felt that was the clearest spark where I was like, "Oh yeah, I get it, this is great." Brad said Emily's energy was spectacular and felt great; he liked that her voice was genuine and authentic. "Emily's energy makes sense with Linkin Park. It's the exact feeling. There were even experiments I had heard where other amazing singers had come in to sing on stuff, and I really loved their voices, but when I heard it - it sounds cool but it doesn't sound like this band. But with Emily, everything she brings to the table, feels natural to the band. Chester was one-of-a-kind and was one of the best to ever do it, but Emily just being Emily works in Linkin Park."

Brad's involvement with the project wasn't set in stone until later on into the project's sessions, when Mike, Joe, and Phoenix convinced him to join in on a session with Emily and Colin. He loved it, and immediately was immersed into the band once again, even claiming, "I think we can write something heavier. Like, way heavier." The resulting sessions brought about the song 'Casualty.'

When preparing for the live shows, the band had several moments where they had to finally overcome the pressures and insecurities of making their return happen. When rehearsing for the September 5, 2024 return show, Mike said he felt very strange initially when they began performing with Emily for the first time, but knew that it just felt off because it was different, and that it would begin to make sense overtime. Colin took on a musical director role with the live shows, orchestrating changes and moments in the set with techs and the band members, which Mike said helped create the feeling that they could all rely on each other still.

The album was originally slated to come out in early 2025, before being pushed up to December, and then ultimately November as of August 2024, a few weeks prior to when the teasers for the comeback began. Emily claims that because the album release was moved up, the band was able to add three new songs into the upcoming setlist because fans would be able to hear the new music sooner.

Composition

From Zero was started at Mike Shinoda's home studio with Mike, Dave Farrell, and Joe Hahn, working with Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain, before moving to EastWest Studios in Los Angeles where the band began working with Brad Delson. The timeline for new music greatly accelerated in 2023 when the band began talking and hanging out more, following writing sessions with a variety of musicians over the past few years.

Artwork

Mike Shinoda said about the cover art, "This is super interesting. It's all photography, no CGI. It's closeup photos of real life elements, liquid and solid, and lights. We shot video too, and we're using that in different things."

Releases

Physical

Physical editions initially announced for From Zero include a CD box set, several vinyls, and a cassette tape.

Track Listing

Standard Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	From Zero (Intro)		0:22
2	The Emptiness Machine	Linkin Park	3:10
3	Cut The Bridge		3:48
4	Heavy Is The Crown		2:47
5	Over Each Other		2:50
6	Casualty		2:20
7	Overflow		3:31
8	Two Faced		3:03
9	Stained		3:05
10	IGYEIH		3:29
11	Good Things Go		3:29

Personnel

• Mike Shinoda
• Brad Delson
• Joe Hahn
• Dave "Phoenix" Farrell
• Emily Armstrong
• Colin Brittain

Live Performance

Songs Played Live

• The Emptiness Machine (September 5, 2024 debut)
• Heavy Is the Crown (September 22, 2024 debut)

Tours

• From Zero World Tour

Reception

External Links

Music Videos

• The Emptiness Machine (Official Video): LPTV

Live Videos

• From Zero (Livestream): LPTV