DeLonge's Poet is a version of himself

Tom DeLonge says his character Poet Anderson represents who he wishes he was “in a different life.”

The Blink-182 man’s side project Angels & Airwaves this week released their new album The Dream Walker via To the Stars Records. It is accompanied by animated short film Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker.

They have made the album available to stream. The character of Poet Anderson, says DeLonge, is very personal to him.

He tells KROQ: “There’s quite a lot in that character. You know, he’s got the long bangs that I used to run many years ago. He’s got the tight pants and he’s kinda got this sense of wonder about him. I think in many ways he’s the character who I wish I really was in totality, in a different life. He’s got a lot of me in him.”

DeLonge says the album has more angst than their previous four efforts – something he puts down to drummer Ilan Rubin’s obsessive work ethic, which is especially evident on recent single The Wolfpack.

DeLonge tells Rolling Stone: “Ilan’s the guy who stays up all night long and programs his own analog synthesizer sound. He doesn’t just plug in a synth and play a note, he offsets and filters and creates his own tonalities. That song is a collision of California and some rainier parts of an electronic England.”

THE DREAM WALKER TRACKLIST

Teenagers & Rituals 2. Paralyzed 3. The Wolfpack 4. Tunnels 5. Kiss With A Spell 6. Mercenaries 7. Bullets In The Wind 8. The Disease 9. Tremors 10. Anomaly

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.