“People would be surprised to hear what we’re doing.” Pop-rockers Busted are working on an “experimental” new album with former Bring Me The Horizon man Jordan Fish

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Busted have revealed that they're recording a new album with former Bring Me The Horizon man Jordan Fish.

The English pop-rock trio, who made their debut appearance at the Download festival at the weekend, told Rolling Stone UK, “We’re in a position where we give less fucks and we just want to do what makes us really fucking stoked.”

Guitarist/vocalist Charlie Simpson, also frontman of post-hardcore crew Fightstar, revealed that the band - completed by James Bourne and Matt Willis - have been working with Fish in Los Angeles, and states, “We’ve got some great songs already.”

“We want to try and get a whole bunch of songs that we can choose from because I think this next album is very important for Busted,” says Simpson. “We had such a great year last year and I feel like there’s a lot of love out there for Busted. We want to make a record that pleases the fans and takes Busted on into the future.”

Matt Willis adds, “We’re experimenting, we trying to not be tied down to anything too hard right now.”

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“Jordan’s the best thing to happen to Busted in a long time,” Willis claims. “He’s the most creative person and he’s different to us because he loves all the same shit as us, but he brings all the stuff we’ve never had. It’s this added little element of genius that is really unique. I think people would be surprised to hear what we’re doing with him. It’s not necessarily what you might think. We’re experimenting. It’s fun.”

Speaking to NME last week, Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes revealed that the Sheffield band parted company with Fish last year, because the relationship “got to the point where we weren’t happy as a unit anymore.”

“What I realised after Jordan left was that the atmosphere got better,” he continued. “I asked myself how I could have got to the point of fucking hating the record when I love making music, creating and art. I do it for fun. If I’m not making music, I’ll write a story, I’ll draw, I’ll make a t-shirt for [clothing company Drop Dead or whatever. I love that.

“How did it get so bad that I said I want it over with? I realised after that without Jordan it was going way slower.”

Since departing the band, Fish has also been working with Architects and Spiritbox.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.