311 announces new album for March 2014

Reggae rockers 311 have announced the release of their 11th studio album for March 11 (311 Day). It has been almost three years since their last effort, and this time around they are putting it out independently. The album, however, is currently untitled.

In an interview with Billboard, frontman Nick Hexum said that going indie was the best thing for the band, especially after partnering with INgrooves to distribute the record.

"It's a distribution with services, which is so cool because they let you pick... alright, do you guys want to spend money on this type of promotion or that type of promotion?" Hexum told them. "It really allows us to feel involved and we can make sure that we're being represented in a way that we want and we think is effective."

According to the article, the album was mostly recorded separately in each band member's home studio after the band finished up its summer 2013 tour. Hexum told them that the album is less conservative and more experimental.

"But as always, there's a lot of riffs and really good high energy stuff that's going to be great for a live setting. We realized a long time ago that we're primarily a live band, but I didn't want to get too locked into just making crowd rockers. So I think there's a good diversity of tempos and feels and arrangements, lots of distortion guitar and big rocking parts but then there's some trippy, chill-out moments and even some hard rock, like dual leads that some might say could sound like some old classic rock."

Producer Scotch Ralston returns on the album as well, having worked with 311 on 1997's fan-favorite, Transistor and 1999's Soundsystem.

"We asked him to come back and run sound for us, and it really improved our live sound," Hexum explained to them. "The fans noticed that. Because he did the 'Transistor' album, which is kind of our most beloved fan favorite because it's so eclectic and everything, there was a lot of excitement from the fans about that kind of creativity coming back in with him. So we started talking about new songs and he had so many ideas and just so much enthusiasm that it was like a steamroller of excitement. So we had to say yes to having him produce us. It turned out to be a great decision."

The release of the album will coincide with 311 Day, which will be held in New Orleans along with a live show.