NEEDTOBREATHE lead singer Bear Rinehart told Alternative Addiction in a recent interview that the band plans on releasing a new album this July. The as of yet untitled collection was recorded a new studio the band built in Charleston, South Carolina. “We’ve recorded 20 songs, something like that, and we’re trying to whittle it down to an album,” Rinehart explained. “We’re about right smack in the middle of the process right now.” As far as the sound of the new album, NEEDTOBREATHE has always prided themselves on making each of their albums distinctly different. “This record will be as different as the second one was from the first,” said Rinehart who, like their previous albums, is collaborating with his brother Bo on the lyrics. “My brother and I both write, and that makes it very competitive. We probably both wrote about 60 songs for this record, we’ve been writing [basically] since the last record was finished.” The upcoming album will not only be a departure from the last record lyrically, but also musically. Rinehart explained that he and his band mates used some very interesting items for instruments on the new record. “We brought in a bunch of chains, and started making percussive elements out of that, tapping it on wood floors and stuff like that,” said Rinehart. “Having your own place you can experiment all you want, there is nobody telling you ‘That might not work,’ or “maybe you don’t want to do that.’ In our opinion, that is how the best stuff gets done.” Making a departure from the sound of the band’s last album is a courageous move, considering the success of the band’s previous album, The Heat, which has sold nearly 100,000 copies, almost double the sales of their major label debut. “We feel really proud of what happened on our last record,” Rinehart said. “These days there are not a lot of bands selling more on their second than they did on their first. We feel like its been a development thing, and a very slow build, but that is really kind of the way we like it.” NEEDTOBREATHE chose the long path to success, instead of trying to cash in right away with one big hit song, an approach many bands seem to be taking these days. “Atlantic has done a really good job of not pushing it too fast, it’s not the ‘Hinder’ plan I guess you could say,” Rinehart joked. “A lot of bands who would be a great band over time, are looking for the big cash in single, and end up burning out.” For Rinehart, he’s more than satisfied with NEEDTOBREATHE’s slow building success, because its allowed him to do what he loves for a living – play music. “It’s surreal in way that I can actually say, I’m a full time musician, and that’s what I’ve gotten to do for the last 10 years. We’re kind of at a point now where I can’t imagine us doing anything else.”