After making a triumphant return with his debut solo album Neon Noir in 2023, Ville Valo has suggested he plans to start working on a follow-up in the coming months.
Speaking to Greek publication Rock Overdose, the former HIM frontman admitted that while he has tour dates planned up to May, ending with a show at London's Royal Albert Hall on May 10, the rest of the year will be dedicated to working on new material.
"We're playing about 32 shows and finishing the tour in London in early May," he explains. "After that, I don't know - and that's the cool thing about it. I'm probably gonna start working on new music. I've already started humming and strumming a couple of new ideas."
He also admits that work hasn't fully begun on a follow-up just yet, however. "I'm sort of like a racehorse with the blinkers on," he says. "So I wanna concentrate on the tour. And that's the important thing now. And then once the tour is over, then Neon Noir is over for me. I don't have to think about that album anymore, and I don't have to think about the songs, which means that I'm free to do whatever I choose.
"And if I'm reading the horoscope right, I think that I'm gonna be working on music, and it won't be that much different. So it will still be emotional, it will still be melancholy. But I have no idea yet when that music might come out and in which form. But I'm definitely gonna be working on some music. And I think the quicker, the better."
Elsewhere in the interview, Valo speaks some on the decision to disband HIM in 2017, as well as what he misses most about his former group. "I miss the camraderie, the friendship," he admits. "Especially when we began the band, the first few years we were like a band of brothers and we all hung out a lot because it was all very new to us.
"Recording music by myself is cool because I don't have to work out calendars or schedules, or ask anybody for permission. I can do whatever I want to whenever I want to and that's great, but I still miss the jokes and the brainstorming."
All that said, in early 2023 Valo admitted to Hammer he hadn't been in touch with his former bandmates, so the idea of a Slayer-style surprise reunion is unlikely, especially while he's still actively working on his solo career as VV.
Watch Rock Overdose's full interview with Ville below.
The European leg of VV's Neon Noir tour starts in Greece on April 4 and ends May 10 at London's Royal Albert Hall. For the full list of dates, visit the Heartagram website.
