Anthony Kiedis Says New Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs 'Are As Good As Any' They've Ever Written

Red Hot Chili Peppers are working on a new album with Danger Mouse as producer, and Anthony Kiedis says the new material is “as good as any songs we’ve ever written.”

Kiedis and company are prepping for their annual benefit show for L.A.’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music, founded by bassist Flea in 2001. Although the band would like to unveil some of the new songs at the upcoming gig -- which will take place a yet-to-be-revealed warehouse in L.A. -- Kiedis says they will have to keep it under a tight lid for the time being.

“The torture about doing this [show] is that we’ve been writing new music for the last year, and we’ve written some songs that I feel are as good as any songs we’ve ever written,” Kiedis told Rolling Stone. “We’re just dying to play the new songs -- but we can’t, because every single human has a recording device on them at all times.”

Kiedis also discussed collaborating with Danger Mouse on the band’s 11th album. “He’s very good about coming up with super-modern ideas, but he’ll also touch on the acoustic guitar in the control room and strip the song down to its acoustic essentials,” he says. “Which is a beautiful place to be.”

The Silverlake benefit will feature RHCP, John Legend and Kamasi Washington. The auction portion of the show will include works from Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and more.

“Historically, it’s our funnest event of the year,” Kiedis said. “It’s shocking and wonderful how supportive musicians and artists are in contributing their time and their art promoting the act of children learning music.”