In a new video posted on AC/DC‘s YouTube channel, Angus Young once again spoke about how band’s upcoming album, Power Up, is a tribute to his late brother, founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 at age 64.
Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on Power Up.
“I know Mal‘s not with us anymore, but he’s there with us in spirit,” Angus said. “This band was his baby, his life. He was always one [to say], ‘You keep going.’ His big line always, every now and again, he’d go… He always said, ‘If you’re a musician, it’s a bit like being on the Titanic. The band goes down with the ship.’ That’s how he viewed it.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Angus Young, singer Brian Johnson and bassist Cliff Williams discussed how Power Up came together. Power Up will be released on November 13.
“This record is pretty much a dedication to Malcolm, my brother,” Angus says. “It’s a tribute for him like Back in Black was a tribute to Bon Scott.”
“Even when I sit at home and pick up my guitar and start playing, the first thing that enters my head is, ‘I think Mal will like this riff I’m playing’. That’s how I judge lot of stuff.”
Brian added: “Malcolm was always there. As Angus would say, the band was his idea. Everything in it ran through him. He was always there in your minds or just your thoughts. I still see him in my own way. I still think about him. And then in the studio when we’re doing it, you have to be careful when you look around because he seems to be there.”
Williams says: “AC/DC without Mal isn’t AC/DC. He’s just there somehow. He’s always here.”
He also said that once drummer Phil Rudd and Johnson were back in the band, it didn’t take much to convince him to return as well. “It was like the old band back together,” Williams said. “It was not like starting over again, but as close to the band that’s been together for 40-plus years as we can possibly make it. I didn’t want to miss that.”
