Clutch’s Neil Fallon on Making ‘Wasted Lands’ for the Stage, Bringing Back a Fan-Favorite Producer, and Playing Banjo on the New Album (Exclusive)

Clutch are due to release their 14th studio album, *Wasted Lands*, in January 2027, their first since 2022. Frontman Neil Fallon says the band set aside a large amount of recorded material after questioning whether it would work on stage, returning instead to the sound and approach they felt best suited them.

The album reunites Clutch with producer Machine, who previously worked on several of the band’s best-known records, including *Blast Tyrant* and *Psychic Warfare*. Its single “Beware the Fever” grew from an informal jam involving a banjo Fallon had not played for years; he says the instrument had also appeared quietly on a bonus track from *The Elephant Riders*.