Audioslave Get Funkier, Not Happier

Chris Cornell is tired.

He's starting his third interview of the day — which would probably be somewhere around the 3,647th of his career — and it's easy to see that he'd probably rather have a nap. Still, he's talkative and articulate once he gets going, and there are some things he wants to address:

First, those pesky break-up rumours that always seem to rise up in regards to his band, Audioslave.

"There's never gonna be a time when people aren't going to bring up the bands we've been in before," Cornell sighs, making unspecific reference to both his old band (beloved '90s grungers Soundgarden) and the other Audioslave members' former group (the infamous Rage Against The Machine).

"I think when you have break-up rumours, it's just part of the whole thing. But they're just rumours, you know? We've had them from day one. But we keep on putting out records, and people eventually realize, 'Oh, they're not gonna break up, are they?'

"Plus we have a catalogue now. I don't think of two records as being a catalogue, but three I do," he concludes with a laugh.

The aforementioned third record — Audioslave's newest release, Revelations — is full of classic big riff radio rock, complete with Cornell's anguished howls harmonizing along to Tom Morello's increasingly Led Zeppelin-ish guitar parts. Yet, on this outing, there's a distinct funk element to the tunes, which Cornell says was a natural progression for the quartet.

"We've had the ability to go in that direction since we started as a band — it was natural. And on this record, it just so happened that we kind of kept going that way more often than we normally would. Something like that more than anything comes with a drum riff or a guitar riff or a bass riff, I suppose. It's about what it feels like in the room. And then it comes down to what am I gonna do. If the band's playing a song like that, am I gonna steer into it and go in that direction, or am I gonna go the opposite direction and make it something else? It's all sort of up to chance."

One thing that's remained the same, though, is Cornell's knack for less than cheery lyrics. Although things have been looking up for the singer — he's now a clean and sober family man who splits his time between Los Angeles and Paris — he'll admit that society today has left him a little more than worried.

"I think, directionally, things have gotten more positive and hopeful for me. But then there's a certain anxiety I have probably all of the time that comes out in song lyrics. I'm not so much pessimistic or depressed, but I've got an overall inescapable anxiety that I would imagine anybody should have right now, given the state of things.

"There's a Spin review that claims that we've sold millions of records, so how come we're not writing happy songs?"

He rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, OK, alright... it's, uh, a little bit obvious. I don't think anybody expects me to be the guy that shows up with a party record."