Red Hot Chili Peppers Lick Their Wounds on Moody New Song ‘Not the One’

The Red Hot Chili Peppers get melancholy on “Not the One,” a new song from their upcoming, Rick Rubin–produced album, Unlimited Love. The album, due April 1, will be the first to feature guitarist John Frusciante since 2006’s Stadium Arcadium.

Over mellow, shimmery chords, Anthony Kiedis sings about his struggle to live up to the expectations his loved ones have of him. “I’m not the one you fell into,” he sings. “I’m not the one, the one for you.” Flea plays piano in addition to bass on the track, which features shimmery clouds of six-string introspection courtesy of Frusciante.

Frusciante reunited with the Chili Peppers back in 2019, but fans had to wait until last month to hear their first new track together, “Black Summer.” The song also arrived with a statement from the band about the making of Unlimited Love, which follows 2016’s The Getaway.

“We spent thousands of hours, collectively and individually, honing our craft and showing up for one another, to make the best album we could,” the band said. “Our antennae attuned to the divine cosmos, we were just so damn grateful for the opportunity to be in a room together, and, once again, try to get better. Days, weeks, and months spent listening to each other, composing, jamming freely, and arranging the fruit of those jams with great care and purpose. The sounds, rhythms, vibrations, words, and melodies had us enrapt.”

RHCP will hit the road this summer on a trek that will feature support from Haim, Beck, Thundercat, the Strokes, St. Vincent, and King Princess on various dates. It kicks off July 23 in Denver.