Pete Townshend Is Finally Hinting A New Project

In a recent interview with the Sun, Pete Townshend, a member of The Who, dropped some exciting hints about a new rock opera and shared insights into his ongoing projects.

Townshend is currently busy composing the music for his debut novel, The Age Of Anxiety, which was published in 2019. He revealed:

“I am still developing the score and recording the music. I am also working on a documentary about the project, from its inception in 2007 until today. I’m probably two years off completing it, at which time I hope to perform it with a full opera and a cast of guest singers.”

This isn’t the first time Townshend has talked about his plans for The Age Of Anxiety. In a recent chat with the Daily Beast, he provided more details, saying:

“The new piece that I’ve been working on for a long time, ‘The Age of Anxiety,’ has an installation conversation aspect to it. So I probably will finish that, and if there are any AI software-based wonderments that come out of the new wave of technology and data manipulation, I’ll probably use them for that project. So, it’s still bubbling.”

A Decade-Long Creative Project

The Age of Anxiety, initially named Floss The Musical, has been a labor of love for Pete Townshend since at least 2009 when he originally aimed for a 2011 release. In 2012, Townshend sold the rights to his past and future work, which included Floss The Musical. Reflecting on the project in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, he explained:

“[It is] a story with music, characters, an Aristotelian plot line very different from what I’ve done in the past… The thesis is we’re all terrified. We’re living in terror, we’re living in anxiety and discomfort, and the fear that we have is for the future, the fear for our children’s future; we’re worried about the planet, we’re worried about terrorism, being able to sustain life as we love it, we’re afraid we can’t guarantee peace.”

The song was initially intended to be an art project, Townshend said in 2015 when interviewing for Uncut. He stated that he wanted to get back in touch with his artistic side, which he had to put on hold when he joined The Who.