Eighteen months on the road wasn't enough to suck the life out of Lifehouse. Although the threesome is presently enjoying a brief touring respite, singer/guitarist Jason Wade, bassist Sergio Andrade and drummer Rick Woolstenhulme will be back in the studio in March to work on the follow-up to their 2000 breakthrough debut, No Name Face. As they did for that album -- which produced rock radio's most spun single of 2001, "Hanging by a Moment" -- the Los Angeles boys will again employ producer Ron Aniello (Days of the New) to work the boards. The as-yet-untitled album should hit stores by the end of summer.

As with No Name Face -- for which twenty-five recorded tracks were pared down to twelve for release -- Lifehouse are priming a healthy heaping of new material for the forthcoming sessions. Wade says he's written fifty-five new songs, twenty of them "done and ready to go." The band debuted two new numbers -- the Britpoppy "Climb" and the anthemic "Take Me Away" -- during gigs in the later part of 2001. "We could probably already do a B-sides record," Wade jokes. "But I suppose it's a little early."

Whereas much of No Name Face was introspective, Wade says the bulk of the new material veers more towards the uplifting. "The songs we've been working on seem to be big rock songs," he says. "I think the next record will be more uptempo, less melancholy."

Lifehouse go up against Alicia Keys and Nelly Furtado in the Favorite New Artist (Pop or Rock & Roll Music) category at tomorrow night's American Music Awards.

GREG HELLER
(January 8, 2002)