Blink-182 announce EP release date

Blink-182 bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus has announced that they will be releasing their new EP on December 18. The EP will be the band's first release since leaving Interscope Records in late October.

Pre-orders for the new EP are expected to be launched in the next week or so though the band's website, and will include items such as a special screened, museum-quality poster, limited-edition T-shirts and sweatshirts, wrapping paper and holiday cards.

Hoppus had the following to say about the new EP:

"The future's a wide-open door. We're lucky to be in a position where, after 20 years in our band, we can be ... open to all options."

We're very excited about getting these songs out before Christmas. As it stands today, the EP is set to release on December 18. We're not sure how many songs will make the final EP ... hopefully all five, but we'll make the final determination when the mixes are complete.

It'll be something fun and funny for the holidays. But the music is the most important thing by far, and we are truly excited for people to hear new music."

This kind of agility is exactly what we were looking for, post-label. We have ideas for songs, we get into a studio and put the ideas together, grind hard, chase that paper, and weeks later we release the songs on our own. I spent last week in the studio with Travis and Tom. It was great, ideas falling everywhere. Lots of long hours spent on five new songs. ... The band is in a great place creatively. Having everyone in the same room at the same time makes all the difference for us."

The band's drummer Travis Barker has also chimed in about the new EP, commenting:

"To me already, this EP is a hundred times better than Neighborhoods, because we're all in a room together. When we're not in the studio together, you don't have the opportunity to gel off each other."

The band's Soundwave 2013 apperances, beginning in February, will be the first time the band has returned to Australia since they reformed in early 2009. Along with the Soundwave dates, the band will be playing headline sideshows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, with the Brisbane and Melbourne shows already being sold out. Click here to view the details of the shows.