Nickelback think outside the rock box on 'No Fixed Address'

It’s a truism that’s been demonstrated twice this year: Where and how you make an album affects its overall sound.

This is the main thesis behind “Sonic Highways,” the Foo Fighters’ new HBO documentary series about recording their album of the same name. For that album, Dave Grohl and company deliberately recorded each song in a different city to tell a particular musical story.

But while that project was part of a purposeful experiment, Nickelback’s latest No Fixed Address was created in a much more organic way. Like Sonic Highways, it was cut in multiple locations, but it wasn’t always laid down in studios as was the case with the Foos’ LP. Singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger, guitarist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger and drummer Daniel Adair’s eighth studio release was cut in recording facilities in Hawaii, Vancouver and Los Angeles, but it was also partly recorded on the road in Europe.

“It ended up being a great way to do an album,” Peake says. “We’ve always locked ourselves in a studio for months and you’re just pulling your hair out all the time. This was the type of thing where you just got to get away and come back fresh. I mean, it felt like being kind of homeless, but in a way, it made sense.”

The result was an album that’s much more diverse and experimental than anything the Hanna, Alta. band have recorded to date. Fans and the media immediately took notice when first single “Edge of a Revolution” hit the airwaves this summer. Its political subject matter sees the band tackling civil unrest for the first time - a concept few associated with a band who were more known for breakup songs, power ballads and hard rock.

“We’re never going to be confused with a political band,” Peake says, laughing. “I don’t think that’s really ever been an issue. But that’s not to say we don’t talk about these things.

"When we were recording, it was pretty prevalent on the news that things were just going sideways everywhere, whether it was in Egypt or Syria and whatnot. You see these things a lot all over the world. In America it was happening with the NSA and there’s issues with that.”

While he won’t rule out the possibility of the band releasing similar songs in the future, he says he has no illusions about the band’s place within the musical landscape.

“We’re not in danger of starting any rally cry,” he laughs. “It’s just [these types of things are] part of our lives and it’s tough to get away from.”

“Edge of a Revolution” isn’t the only thing that’s wildly different on No Fixed Address. That might be surprising for some, considering Nickelback have often been criticized for releasing songs that all sound the same. Once fans get deeper in the record, they’ll likely be surprised by the collaboration with Flo Rida on “Got Me Runnin’ Round.” The track also features a horns section, which is, yet again, something the band have never done before.

“We tried a few different flavours this time,” Peake says. “We’re all awful horn players, so we couldn’t do it ourselves… We have that going on and just a bunch of different kinds of kooky tastes on this album. Brass stuff, back-up singers, funk stuff. I don’t know how funky we really are, but it was kind of fun doing it.”

It’s not unusual for artists to release a more experimental record later in their careers. Peake points out he’s seen it with plenty of other musicians in the past. But he says he recognizes there’s a fine line between doing whatever you want in the studio and alienating your fanbase.

“We always feel like we can try what we want to try,” he says. “Not everybody wants to come along for the ride. But I don’t think there’s any danger of making a full-on country album, but if we did that, I think a lot of our fans would be scratching their heads going, ‘Huh?’ It may not work. We like it first and foremost, and we want the fans to like it and it’s great when you can introduce them to something that you are really interested in.”

So while honky tonk might not be in the band’s future, don’t expect this to be their only record where they push themselves out of their comfort zone, Peake says. It’s something they want to continue doing.

“It’s believable when we do it because we believe in it,” he says. “You don’t want to take too much reign with that because that may be career suicide, but in the same breath, we do take a few more risks than we may have in the past. Good or bad, we’re probably going to keep doing that.”