“The Return of the Dream Canteen” Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Second Album Coming in 2022

The Californian funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers released their thirteenth studio album entitled "The Return of the Dream Canteen" on October 14 worldwide. It is the band's second album to see the light in 2022 after the release of "Unlimited Love" which was available last April.

Reunited again, the four members of the group that saw the years of greatest popularity in the 1990s and the beginning of the millennium return for their fans. Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante, who returned to the band in 2019 for the second time after ten years since his second departure, have had an exceptional flow of ideas for the publication of two albums of seventeen tracks each, in just six months apart.

A pleasant surprise

In early 2022, the Chili Peppers announced the release of "Unlimited Love" after six years without new music. This is the band's twelfth album and sixth with talented guitarist John Frusciante. After his departure, the role of guitarist had fallen to Josh Klinghoffer, with whom they released two well-received projects, although not as acclaimed as those made with Frusciante.

“Unlimited Love” was accompanied by a European tour that began in June and concluded with a tour of the United States including a charming appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards last August. The success of the Chili Peppers was through the roof and the band took advantage of the momentum to announce a new album released in October: “The Return of the Dream Canteen”, officially and unexpectedly promoted on July 23 while giving a concert in Denver.

In the following months, two songs were on the radio and platforms, the first single, entitled “Tippa My Tongue”, with fragments of the funk rock that characterizes the group, and a rap by Anthony that feels great to the chords of Flea and Frusciante. The second was “Eddie”, a tribute to the legendary Eddie Van Halen with a tone similar to that offered by the band on their 2022 album “By The Way”. In this song, Frusciante's most inspired guitar solos since his return to the quartet were appreciated.

Between the classic and the experimental

"Unlimited Love" showed the Red Hot in a stage of reunion, an album where you can notice a certain shyness and a departure from the extravagant rock of previous albums like "Stadium Arcadium" and "Californication". Although there were melodies similar to tracks from said albums, a greater relationship to the most recent albums released with Klinghoffer was felt, perhaps because it was the artistic stage where most of the members had stayed. But, in “Return of the Dream Canteen”, you can feel a greater influence of the guitar and vocal harmonies of Frusciante, the star element of the project.

In this collection of seventeen songs, almost all of them stand out both for being a mixture of the classic Chili Peppers and for brief tests of experimental and even conceptual rock. In songs like "Bella" and "Fake as Fu@k" you can see fragments of the most vigorous stage of the band, mainly the first, which has abstract and captivating lyrics by Kiedis accompanied by an attractive guitar composition by Frusciante. Both could be material for a promotional single for being one of the highest points of the album.

“Roulette” is another striking song that has Flea and Chad Smith as protagonists in a sweet and rhythmic melody that gives background to Kiedis's lyrics, who returned to his more lyrical facet compared to previous works.

Likewise, there are songs that, although they do not have the same quality as the deepest and most catchy, adhere to the group's style and may eventually be considered hidden gems in their catalog. Such is the case of “La La La La”, “My Cigarette” and “In the Snow”, which could easily be published as B-sides of a single and although they may not be the most played, they add to a great list of diverse and unparalleled themes among those published by the band in almost forty years of history.

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Possible tour of Latin America

After concluding a year of touring Europe and the United States, the band is preparing for a tour in Oceania that will begin in January 2023 and rumors of a visit to Latin-American territory have begun to sound strong. Mainly, they are expected to perform solo in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Chile after ruling out their participation in Lollapalooza. In addition, its appearance is speculated in festivals such as Vive Latino in Mexico and Estéreo Picnic in Colombia.

It would not be a surprise if shortly after releasing “The Return of the Dream Canteen”, new dates for live shows in Latin American countries become official to promote the album in one of the regions where they are always well received.