Foo Fighters call 1st album after death of drummer Taylor Hawkins an 'emotionally raw response'

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has used music to process grief in the past — and now he's doing it again on "But Here We Are," the band's first new album since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last year.

“But Here We Are,” out June 2, is a “brutally honest and emotionally raw response” to a year of “staggering losses," a press release explains.

But rather than being mired in sorrow, the album's 10 songs are a “testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family.”

On April 19, the band released a first single, the pummeling “Rescued,” along with a lyric video on YouTube. The song's lyrics detail the need for connection after tragedy.

"We’re all free to some degree / To dance under the lights / I’m just waiting to be rescued /Bring me back to life," Grohl sings on the song's catchy chorus.

Fans popped in the video’s comments to thank Grohl and his bandmates for making new music during a difficult time.

“We are all rescued by your music. I hope Dave and his mates are also rescued from tragic memory happens last year. Rest in peace Taylor, and from deepest our heart, thank you for your devotion to music, Dave,” wrote one.

"This is so powerful! Your first song without Taylor, rest in peace. This song is a masterpiece! It’s the classic Foo Fighters formula!" wrote another.

Hawkins was found dead at age 50 in Bogotá in March 2022 while on tour with Foo Fighters in Colombia. The band honored the late musician at a star-studded tribute show in September 2022, performing the hit “My Hero” with Hawkins’ 16-year-old son on drums.

Several fans on YouTube noted that Grohl has now endured the death of two bandmates who were close friends.

Twenty-eight years ago, Foo Fighters’ released its self-titled debut album, a little more than a year after the 1994 suicide of Kurt Cobain, the leader of Grohl’s old grunge band Nirvana.

In 2020, Grohl confirmed to Apple Music host Matt Wilkinson that at least one song on the first album, the hit “This Is a Call,” was a kind of “exorcism” that saw him “purging” complicated feelings about Cobain’s passing.

"It was like a renewal or a reawakening where I actually found joy in playing and writing," Grohl said of recording that first album. "So it’s strange because when you’re in that moment and you’re in a period of loss or grief or mourning, it’s like you pick up an instrument and that just spills out."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com