Deryck Whibley, in a recent conversation with Guitar World, made it clear that his musical journey is far from over despite Sum 41’s final album and upcoming disbandment.
Sum 41 is set to release their eighth and last studio album, ‘Heaven :x: Hell,’ on March 29, 2024. This double album will include both pop-punk and heavy-metal material. The vocalist expressed pride in this final work, seeing it as the perfect note to end on. He noted:
“I decided for sure when the record was finished. It felt like the best musical idea we’ve had. It’s a double album which encapsulates the entire sound of Sum 41 from beginning to end. I love all the songs. This is the record to go out on! I can hang my hat on this record and feel ready for something else.”
A New Chapter Awaits
Despite the impending end of Sum 41, Whibley is enthusiastic about the future, eager to embark on new projects. He laughed off the notion of retirement, stating:
“I definitely don’t want to retire and stay at home doing nothing. I’m ready for something different. I don’t even know what it is yet. I’ve got a lot of ideas, but I’m 1,000 percent focused on Sum 41 from now until next year… and then I gotta figure something out!”
The Journey To ‘Heaven :x: Hell’
For ‘Heaven :x: Hell,’ Deryck initially wrote songs during the pandemic, not for Sum 41 but potentially for other artists. However, his attachment to the tracks led him to keep them for what would become Sum 41’s final album. This process was free from the pressure of creating a concluding record, as the band did not initially set out with the end in mind. The singer explained his decision to call it quits:
“Once that album was finished, I’d realized, and I’d been thinking this for a while, that I felt like after all these years with my 1,000% focus on Sum 41 all day, every day, I felt like I don’t have much more of that in me to continue past this record. I’ve been in this band since I was in tenth grade, and I just… I’m getting to a point where I’m thinking I’d like to put some focus and energy into something else. “
Sum 41 has already released singles from ‘Heaven :x: Hell,’ including ‘Landmines,’ ‘Rise Up,’ and ‘Waiting on a Twist of Fate.’ The band also announced dates for their farewell world tour, with the final shows scheduled for January 2025 in Toronto.
