Deryck Whibley Explains Why Sum 41 Decided to Split

While it's been known that Sum 41 have been working on new music for a while, it may have come as a surprise to some that the band was deciding to call it a career when they made their disbandment announcement back in May. In a new interview with Canada's CJAY 92, singer Deryck Whibley has revealed why now is the right time for the group to split, offering more insight into this motivations moving forward.

Whibley has been vocal about his fondness for the music that will eventually be released as part of their upcoming double album, Heaven X Hell. And while it's not uncommon for bands to hype up their new music, Whibley seems to genuinely feel its some of the band's best work, which made the decision to move on while on a high note that much easier.

"I'm a big believer in that the music tells you what to do, and it just told me this should be a double album. Once that album was finished, I'd realized, and I'd been thinking this for a while, that I felt like after all these years with my 1,000 percent focus on Sum 41 all day, every day, I felt like I don't have much more of that in me to continue past this record," Whibley revealed.

He continued, "I've been in this band since I was in tenth grade, and I just... I'm getting to a point where I'm thinking, I'd like to put some focus and energy into something else. And I felt this is probably the best record we've ever made. And I think this version of the band is the best we've ever been live. And I thought, what a way to just go out on this one."

When asked about whether or not the band's finality factored into the new record, Whibley explained, "There was no pressure, because we didn't really know that we were going to make this the last record. When I started writing songs for this record, I didn't even know I was writing songs for Sum 41. I thought I was writing for other people, because at the beginning of the pandemic, I was getting asked by managers and record labels if I'd work with some of their artists. They were looking for pop-punk stuff. And so I just started writing songs, and I just happened to like them and I didn't wanna give them away. So I kept them."

The singer adds, "I didn't even know we were making a double album. I didn't even know it was going to be what it became. It wasn't until all the music was just written. I was just writing for the sake of writing, and when I listened to it all back, it just kind of spoke to me."

As for what fans can expect with the forthcoming set, Whibley has stated that Heaven X Hell is divvied up into two stylistically different sides. "The 'Heaven' side is 10 songs of what would be old-school Sum 41 pop punk, and the 'Hell' side is the newer sort of heavier metal side that we've done for about 16, 17 years now — maybe even longer."

READ MORE: The Greatest Pop-Punk Albums of All-Time - Ranked

At present, the album is expected to arrive in 2024. An official release date has not been announced, but the band did recently release the new song "Landmines."

Sum 41's Deryck Whibley Speaks With CJAY 92