PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix spoke to Audacy Check In about the band’s latest single, “Even If It Kills Me”, which was made available on January 22 via the group’s own label New Noize Records/ADA. he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s just got such a cinematic feel to it and it’s just got the big riffs that we are known for. And it’s got a hooky chorus. I really love the chorus. And it’s just one of those songs that when I heard the demo, when the band wrote the music, I just instantly picked up the phone, I called [PAPA ROACH bassist] Tobin [Esperance]. I’m, like, ‘Dude, I don’t even have to think twice on this one. It’s go time on this track.'”Jacoby continued: “When we land on those moments when we’re making music, when I just know there’s an inner knowing, there’s something magic in that. And it sets a tone for then what’s to come and what we’re gonna write after that. And we kicked it off with this one and it just was so inspired. It was the first song that we wrote after we had been touring on our last album, [2022’s] ‘Ego Trip’, and it was the first one that we went back into the studio and we were, like, ‘All right, let’s start writing music again.’ And it seems like when we’ve kind of been out there working and playing songs live and been out on tour and hadn’t been writing new music in a while, it’s like when the levee breaks, and it’s just this flood. And that’s what happened when we wrote that song, and we’re so proud of it. And I’ve gotta tell you, just wait till you see the music video for this one, ’cause it’s leaps and bounds levels up of what we’ve done lately with our music videos. And I’m so excited about this one.”Asked if there is a new PAPA ROACH album on the way, Jacoby said: “So we’ve been in the studio throughout 2024 working on a bunch of music, and we have songs in a lot of different states. There’s songs that are completely finished. We have other songs that are like verses and choruses, and we’ve gotta write maybe a bridge or get back there and kind of retweak ’em and work ’em. And so they’re in all these different states. There’s another couple of songs that are just acoustic guitar and vocal, and it’s, like, ‘All right, this one’s gonna be a banger. We’ve just gotta go in there and, like, bandify the song.’ And so we have a ton of material demoed out. And so throughout this year, we’re just gonna keep jumping back into the studio and finishing up those pieces. Management’s going, ‘Let’s try to hit it later this year.’ And I’m, like, ‘I wanna release music throughout the whole year.’ And it’s going to lead up to an album eventually. Whether it’s the end of 2025 or early 2026, there will be a new PAPA ROACH album.”He continued: “The music we’re making right now is very inspired and it’s got us all pumped up. When you go back in the studio, you just don’t know what’s gonna come. And after we wrote ‘Even If It Kills Me’, I’m just, like, ‘Oh. It’s on. Let’s go.'”Shaddix also talked about PAPA ROACH’s musical evolution, saying: “We have definitely come a long way since 1993. And over the last six months, I’ve kind of been diving back into the old early, early, early releases of PAPA ROACH ’cause I just was doing some purging of things from my home and just clearing stuff out. And I found all these old demo CDs of early iterations of ‘Last Resort’ and stuff well before that. And just kind of seeing where we started as a band and where we’re at right now is definitely… We’ve grown so much, and to be as inspired as we are these days, it’s exciting. Being this deep into our career and still making music that feels current — it feels like we’re pushing the bar, honestly, and raising the bar, and to be doing that, I’m grateful for it. And it’s a testament to our passion to this craft of what we do. And also, I think for us, our willingness to shake things up and try working with different producers and seeing how they reflect the mirror back at us and we break this thing down and we build it back up. And yeah, man, I’m fricking stoked where we’re at right now, especially we’re on the precipice of one of our biggest tours throughout Europe, and I’m just, like, ‘We turned up over here.’ It’s gonna be good.”PAPA ROACH’s just-launched “Rise Of The Roach” tour sees the band bringing its biggest-ever production and journey deep through their vast music catalogue, including a celebration of the 25th anniversary of their iconic breakthrough album “Infest”. Special guests for the global tour include WAGE WAR in Europe and RISE AGAINST and UNDEROATH in the U.S.PAPA ROACH has also charted Top 15 for the first time at U.S. Hot AC with “Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark)”. Earlier this month, the track and campaign were recognized in the 2025 Clio Music Awards, where it received a Bronze award in the category of Social Good.In a recent interview with Germany’s Rock Antenne, Shaddix stated about PAPA ROACH’s new material: “We’re really proud of the stuff that we’ve done. And I think the fans will be surprised. As we evolve the music and push things forward, you never know what’s gonna happen in the studio. And I’ve gotta tell you, what happened in the studio this time around has been just exciting.”We’ve had a really good run with our [last] album, ‘Ego Trip’, and a lot of successes, especially here in America as well, as well as Germany, we’ve had some great successes on that record, and it’s just been one of those records that our fanbase has been really excited about. And so we’re taking that momentum and going back into the studio and creating again, it’s been a really good feeling.”In November 2024, PAPA ROACH guitarist Jerry Horton was asked by The Mistress Carrie Podcast if the experience of making the band’s upcoming album was different to the way he and his bandmates went about making “Ego Trip”. He responded: “I would say that maybe the experience — well, definitely the experience was different, ’cause we kind of bounced around different producers, different studios, but I think the energy is the same. We’re still fired up about it. And the first song coming is — it’s a banger. It’s heavy, catchy — it sticks in your head, for sure. And the record is diverse, just like the last one. It’s experimental and it’s emotional, it’s dynamic. I think even though the experience was different, it has more in common with the last record than not.”In October, Shaddix told “The Jasta Show” about his band’s plans for new music: “We’ve been getting in the studio for the last five months. I’d say probably about 10 days a month we’re together. We’ll go, write, create, step away, trip out on what we created and finetune it the next time. And now we’ve got seven or eight songs. And the first kind of go-around for us, we went in… ‘Cause our current single, it’s an acoustic song; it’s very heartfelt. And we’re, like, ‘All right, let’s flip the script. We need to go write the heaviest P-ROACH we possibly could ever write. Let’s just go see what that sounds like. Let’s go experiment in the studio.’ And so we’ve done that a few times over, and some of the stuff that we’re… We’ve drop tuned some of the stuff. We’re messing with some of the tunings, which then adds even a heavier element to it. And you know I love heavy music. It’s something that is in my blood as well. I’m a fan of many styles. And it just feels natural to wanna lean into that heavy sound for us right now. And I’m excited. I feel inspired about creating.”PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music, who in 2025 are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their iconic album “Infest”. PAPA ROACH are not unfamiliar with calling attention to mental health and have been doing so since the seminal release of their first hit single “Last Resort”. Since then, the band has gone on to create 10 studio albums, their most recent, “Ego Trip”, on their own label New Noize Records.Photo credit: Bryson Roatch[embedded content][embedded content]