Mike Shinoda Drops a Hint About New Music Through a Cryptic Social Media Post

by Silviya Y - 01.09.2023 First Published 1,September 2023, 11:00 AM

Linkin Park’s multi-talented Mike Shinoda seems to be hinting at a potential drop of fresh tunes. The singer, rapper and producer shared a quick 23-second clip on social media, where he’s seen shaving his head with the enigmatic caption ‘soon’.

If this pans out, it’ll mark Shinoda’s first musical release since the ‘Dropped Frames’ trilogy of albums in 2020, following his solo debut record ‘Post Traumatic’ in 2018.

soon pic.twitter.com/Nt9u6pE1Ay
— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) August 31, 2023

Shinoda said in an interview: “It’s weird to make songs without an idea of what they’ll end up being. Right now, I’m just making the stuff I want to make. I don’t know what it’ll end up being and at this point, I don’t care about defining that. I just want to make songs.”

Shinoda kicked off the year with the electrifying electro-pop track ‘In My Head,’ featuring the vocals of American singer-songwriter Kailee Morgue. This catchy tune found its place on the soundtrack for the film ‘Scream VI’. Notably, Shinoda also had a hand in producing and co-writing ‘Still Alive,’ a track by Demi Lovato that also made its way onto the same soundtrack.

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda Shares Tense New Song 'Fine' – Rolling Stone — Image Courtesy: Rolling Stone

Shinoda spoke about how those two songs were partly inspired by the work he did on the 20th anniversary re-release of Linkin Park’s album ‘Meteora’. “I definitely got reminded of the fun of playing live instruments,” he said. “It’s been a while since I was in the studio with Linkin Park making anything and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s an element of experimentation with live instruments that I just haven’t done in a while.’”

Linkin Park Share Unreleased 'Meteora' Era Track 'Fighting Myself' – Rolling Stone — Image Courtesy: Rolling Stone

In April, an extended edition of ‘Meteora’ was released, featuring a treasure trove of previously unreleased demos and live performances. The most recent full album from Linkin Park prior to that was ‘One More Light,’ which dropped in 2017, just two months before the tragic loss of their lead vocalist, Chester Bennington.

Earlier this year, Shinoda made it clear that the band had no plans to entertain the idea of performing alongside a holographic version of Bennington.

—Silviya.Y