Linkin Park Already Writing New Album

(alternativeaddiction) Their latest album 'A Thousand Suns' may not even be six months old yet, but Linkin Park is already making plans for their next release which the band says they've already started writing.

"I like we're where at right now," the group's Mike Shinoda said during a conference call with reporters. "Creatively I feel like the band is really energized...We are really trying to get focused on getting in the studio as often as possible...It's definitely on our minds that we want to be <a href='http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/advertisements/adserver/adclick.php?n=a87972ba' target='_blank'><img src='http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/advertisements/adserver/adview.php?what=zone:37&n=a87972ba' border='0' alt=''></a>trying to write as much as we can."

Shinoda added that just because the band is getting ready to kick off an extensive North American tour, that shouldn't hinder the band's ability to write new music.

"We're always writing," notes Shinoda. "I think we benefit from the fact that the music recording and writing technology has gotten so compact and so easy to carry around in your laptop. I keep getting emails from the guys in the band saying, 'Hey, you want to get together and write some stuff? What are you up to? Are you bringing your gear on the road?' I expect on this next run they'll be knocking on my hotel door looking to collaborate on some ideas. It's definitely a creative time for us; hopefully that means the next record is in the words."

"A Thousand Suns" is Linkin Park's first studio set since the double-platinum "Minutes To Midnight" in 2007, and the band has habitually taken three or four years between releases. But Shinoda says a four-month gap between the end of the North American tour and Linkin Park's next show indicates how serious the group is about getting its next album in gear.

"It's not like 12 months of straight touring, like it used to be," he explains. "It's more like write and tour, then write and tour. It's nice to be able to get into the studio in the middle of a cycle...go home and write a little bit. It just keeps it more fresh on my mind."