The Who Debut New Song ‘Ball and Chain’ + Share New Album Details

Meet the new Who, same as the old Who. The legendary rock band has just announced the details behind their new record, Who, sharing "Ball and Chain," the first official single off the forthcoming effort.

A hard-driving, acoustic-led track, "Ball and Chain" is an intriguing listen where Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend work through moody passages with increasing intensity, a match strike away from unleashing an explosive energy.

"I think we’ve made our best album since Quadrophenia in 1973. Pete hasn’t lost it, he’s still a fabulous songwriter and he’s still got that cutting edge," praised Daltrey when speaking about Who, the group's first album since 2006's Endless Wire.

"This album is almost all new songs written last year, with just two exceptions. There is no theme, no concept, no story, just a set of songs that I – and my brother Simon – wrote to give Roger Daltrey some inspiration, challenges and scope for his newly revived singing voice," added Townshend.

The guitarist continued, "Roger and I are both old men now, by any measure, so I’ve tried to stay away from romance, but also from nostalgia if I can. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Memories are okay, and some of the songs refer to the explosive state of things today."

"I made new home studio demos of all these songs in the summer of 2018 using a wide collection of instruments old and new," Townshend said of the writing process, detailing, "We started recording as The Who in March 2019, and finished in late August just in time to make some vinyl – maybe even some cassettes – ready for release in November."

Listen to "Ball and Chain" below and see the album art and track listing for Who beneath the video.

The Who are in the midst of a North American orchestral tour and you can see the complete list of dates here.

The Who, "Ball and Chain"

The Who, Who Album Art + Track Listing

01. "All This Music Must Fade"
02. "Ball And Chain"
03. "I Don't Wanna Get Wise"
04. "Detour"
05. "Beads On One String"
06. "Hero Ground Zero"
07. "Street Song"
08. "I’ll Be Back"
09. "Break The News"
10. "Rockin’ In Rage"
11. "She Rocked My World"

Best Rock Songs of 2019... So Far