Why Train's 'Bulletproof Picasso' was the 'Hardest Record' They've Ever Had to Make

By
ETONLINE

It’s been 15 years since Train burst onto the scene with the late '90s classic "Meet Virginia." On Tuesday, the band released their seventh studio album Bulletproof Picasso.

ETonline sat down with Pat Monahan at the video shoot for the album's lead single "Angel in Blue Jeans" and found out why the singer-songwriter had to adopt a whole new way of thinking on his latest album.

"I used to think that the best work came from happy moments. If it's easy to write a song, those are always the best songs," Monahan said, citing "Hey Soul Sister" as an example. "This is the best work we've done and this was the hardest record that we’ve ever recorded. It's the hardest record I've ever had to write. It was a lot of revising."

PICS: Star Shots - What's on Instagram?

Monahan says he used to abide by the rule "if I have to revise a song, I'd rather throw it away and start over." Now, he says, "This is the first record that I've kind of thrown that theory away and said, 'OK, I'll keep working on it' and I think that it's paid off because I think this might be the best work that you’ve heard of Train."

The married father of four says he draws inspiration for the good from, where else, but his wife Amber. The bad? Well, that comes from another place.

"Anything that I would write that has to do with love or a beautiful girl would start with my wife," he gushes. "The ones about breaking up and not so fun stuff, she doesn't inspire those. Those are other life experiences but without the bad, you don't have the good."

WATCH: Hannah Simone Is a Kick-Ass Angel in Train's New Video

So is he feeling more bad or good on this new album?

"The ratio's a little more even than it has been on the last two albums. The last two albums have been very up and happy. I think people think this record sounds more like our first record which was pretty melancholy and then the second record was as well," he said. "I think there's a combination of heartbreak and also joy."

Monahan said that he’s excited for the world to hear Train's collaboration with UK singer-songwriter Marsha Ambrosius, "Wonder What You're Doing for the Rest of Your Life," but we couldn’t help wondering if the group had any plans to reconnect with "Bruises" collaborator Ashley Monroe. "I wanna reconnect with Ashley and take advantage of her coolness," he said with a laugh. "I don’t know if that means we'll make a record together someday, or what that means, but any time I get to be around Ashley is a great time for me."

Go behind the scenes of "Angel in Blue Jeans" with Danny Trejo and New Girl's Hannah Simone in ETonline's exclusive video below.

Follow Sophie on Twitter: @SophieSchillaci