The Who Detail First New Album in 13 Years, Debut New Single ‘Ball and Chain’

Who’s ready?!

Fans of the Who have plenty to look forward to these days, as the British rock group have announced that the new album they’ve been teasing all year will be released on Nov. 22. The new project, titled WHO, is their first full-length album in 13 years.

On Friday, the group also released their first single from the upcoming release, a protest song about Guantánamo Bay, written by Pete Townshend, called “Ball and Chain.”

The Who have been playing the song during their North American concert tour this year, which kicked off its second leg earlier this month.

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“I think we’ve made our best album since Quadrophenia in 1973,” singer Roger Daltrey said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “Pete hasn’t lost it. He’s still a fabulous songwriter, and he’s still got that cutting edge.”

“This album is almost all new songs written last year, with just two exceptions. There is no theme, no concept, no story, just a set of songs that I (and my brother Simon) wrote to give Roger Daltrey some inspiration, challenges and scope for his newly revived singing voice,” Townshend added.

“Roger and I are both old men now, by any measure, so I’ve tried to stay away from romance, but also from nostalgia if I can. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Memories are OK, and some of the songs refer to the explosive state of things today. I made new home studio demos of all these songs in the summer of 2018 using a wide collection of instruments old and new.”

The artwork for the new album, which was created by a longtime friend of the band, artist Sir Peter Blake, was unveiled in New York City on Thursday during a surprise gig at the new Pace gallery.

WHO is available to preorder on the Who’s online store.