Pete Townshend says he “doesn’t know” whether there will be a new album from The Who

The Who‘s Pete Townshend has said he’s reluctant to make a new album with the band, because of the “old fashioned way that [the band] work”.

• ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut
• READ NOW: Pete Townshend looks back at The Who in 1967: “I don’t think I was angry”

The guitarist’s new comments come after frontman Roger Daltrey said he’s reluctant to make another album with The Who because “there’s no record market any more”.

Speaking to Guitar Player magazine (via Contact Music), Townshend said: “As far as a new record, it does take quite a lot of time to put together the 20 or 30 songs that are needed for both Roger and I and any producer that we might be working with to cherry-pick the ones that fit the times.

“Because you write the songs, and then two years later you’re putting them all out, and you just hope that you’re going to hit the mood of the moment.”

He added: “A lot of artists now are writing songs at home, recording them at home and putting them out within weeks.

“But our process is the old-fashioned way, and it does take a lot of time. So I don’t know, but I am optimistic. And I’m certainly full of ideas.”

Back in February, Townshend said he had “pages and pages of draft lyrics” for a potential new Who album to be released post-lockdown. “If the moment comes, I’ll go in and start,” he said.

The band, who released their last album WHO in 2019, recently cancelled their upcoming UK and Ireland tour due to ongoing coronavirus concerns.