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Nuno Bettencourt talks the simplicity of making rock music: “We’re writing fucking nursery rhymes for adults at the end of the day”

Extreme’s next album, Six, is due for release on 9 June later this year.

Nuno Bettencourt

Image: Scott Legato / Getty

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Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt is known for his complex solo work, but he argues that rock music is far more simple than people think.

Extreme are set to release their new album Six on 9 June this Summer. The band dropped the first single from the record, Rise, back in early March, which featured an impressive solo from Bettencourt that had the likes of Rick Beato warning fans to not practise it for too long to avoid tendonitis – now that’s pretty rock ’n’ roll.

It’s been 15 years since the release of the band’s last studio album, Saudades de Rock, which of course means fans are already very excited for the new release. Speaking to Music Radar, Bettencourt expressed his belief that rock is far more simple than many may believe, ahead of the forthcoming record.

“Everyone likes to think that rock ’n’ roll and rock bands, that we’re so fucking intricate, and we’re so fucking intellectual,” he said.

“I’m sorry, we’re writing fucking nursery rhymes for adults at the end of the day. That’s what we are doing. And we all sing along with it, and it’s all anthems. What’s the difference from ‘The wheels on the bus go round and round’ to ‘Oh-woah-oh!’? It’s all the same shit! But it’s just the lyrics and the melodies are just a little more for grown-ups.”

Bettencourt later admitted he was in tears of laughter when guitarist and YouTuber Mike G from The Art Of Guitar spotted a moment in Rise that sounded similar to a melody from a song by pop artist Kesha in a video of his: “I fell off my fucking seat! He nailed it. It is exactly what it is. Not that I took it from there but, holy fuck, it is a Kesha fucking hook. I couldn’t believe it. It is [all] pop, man.”

Listen to Rise below:

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