Slash and Myles Kennedy have returned with a new song created almost from scratch in rehearsal, giving fans the first look at a 12-track album recorded largely live in the studio.
by Paul Cashmere
Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators have released their new single and title track, Flying Blind, ahead of their fifth studio album, which will be released worldwide on February 26, 2027. The song has an unusually direct origin: Slash arrived at a rehearsal with a riff that did not yet belong to a song, and the band developed it together in the room.
That spontaneous approach became a defining feature of the new album. Recorded with longtime producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Florida, Flying Blind was made largely with Slash, Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns, Brent Fitz and Frank Sidoris performing together, with much of the album completed in approximately one week.
Slash describes the record as “a really fun, kind of spontaneous rock ‘n’ roll record”, adding that it is “very straightforward and down-to-earth and raw.”
The title track provides a clear example of that method. Slash says he had nothing written before the band began its rehearsal session, with the riff developing rapidly as the musicians played.
“When I started thinking about it, ‘Flying Blind’ just seemed to have the right kind of melodic sensibilities and a hook to make it single material,” Slash says.
For Kennedy, the song’s starting point was the chord progression and melody. The lyric takes a more reflective approach, examining the temptation to take shortcuts in the search for happiness or enlightenment.
The recording process was deliberately designed to preserve the interaction between the five musicians. Slash gave Baskette two instructions before the sessions: keep the performances as live as possible and avoid excessive work on the recordings afterwards.
“He really adhered to that,” Slash says. “It worked out great.”
Kennedy says the result has become his favourite sounding and performing Conspirators album. “Out of all the records, the sounds and performances on Flying Blind are my favorite. It’s very present. It’s right there,” he says.
The album also marks a notable development in Slash’s playing. Looking For A Miracle is the first song he has written on pedal steel and the first Conspirators recording to feature one of his pedal steel solos.
Slash developed the musical idea on pedal steel before adapting it for guitar so the band could rehearse the arrangement. He then returned to the instrument at Studio Barbarosa to record the solo.
“I love pedal steel,” Slash says. “It’s one of these instruments that is so unbelievable in what you can do with it.”
Kennedy has seen that interest develop over several years, recalling rehearsals where the rest of the band would leave while Slash remained behind to practise pedal steel.
Elsewhere, Flying Blind moves through several variations on the band’s hard-rock foundation. Good Time Girl combines a talk box hook with country influences, while Sweet Kill takes a more riff-driven approach that Slash describes as probably the most 1980s-influenced track he has recorded in some time.
Rev My Heart was inspired by the night Kennedy met his future wife, while the instrumental Living The Dream continues Slash’s tradition of including an instrumental on most Conspirators albums. He says the format gives him space to improvise without specific musical “guardrails”.
The album closes with Stem The Flow, a song centred on disillusionment with institutions and systems once considered secure.
Flying Blind is the first full-length Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators studio album since 2022’s 4. The band’s working relationship began with Slash’s 2010 self-titled solo album, on which Kennedy was one of several guest vocalists.
What followed was originally not intended as a permanent arrangement.
“I got into working with the Conspirators as a happy accident from doing that first solo album,” Slash says. “I established a relationship with these guys on a musical and personal level that I wasn’t about to give up when Guns restarted.”
Fifteen years later, the collaboration has produced five studio albums and multiple world tours. Kennedy says the passage of time has been difficult to comprehend.
“It blows my mind that 15 years has moved this fast,” he says. “It’s been the blink of an eye.”
Flying Blind is out now as a single, with the album scheduled for February 26, 2027 through Gibson Records in partnership with Sony Music Australia. The album will feature 12 tracks, including the pedal steel-led Looking For A Miracle and the closing Stem The Flow.
Flying Blind Tracklisting
Avarice And Greed
Good Time Girl
Thrill Seeker
One Of Your Kind
Flying Blind
Looking For A Miracle
Sweet Kill
Here In Babylon
Living The Dream
(Don’t) Thread The Needle
Rev My Heart
Stem The Flow
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