According to Mike Shinoda, Linkin Park’s new lineup carries the band’s DNA.

“It’s really complicated,” the rocker discussed Linkin Park’s return with KROQ’s Kevan Kenney. “For me, two years ago it was very overwhelming, and I think the best thing that we did was to just basically let things happen in the order and at the timeline that they were gonna happen, let things happen organically and not push too hard.”

He continued, “And I feel like what ended up evolving was we just naturally kind of found each other, we found this new lineup, we found Emily and Colin in particular, and the music just kind of came into focus based on what we were having the most fun doing.”

When the host said their new album ‘From Zero’ ‘sounds like a return to roots,’ Shinoda replied, “I love that there’s such a strong Linkin Park DNA in the record. It does really feel like Linkin Park, but I think there’s a part of it that’s the old sound and part of that’s every era of the band, to me, on the record.”

Linkin Park revealed its new lineup during a one-hour global livestream of a concert in Los Angeles in September 2024, featuring Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain.

“In the middle of the process, we were open to, like, maybe the lineup is like a moving lineup, maybe there’s multiple vocalists, maybe it’s a different name, stuff like that,” Shinoda said of the new lineup at the time.

The musician added, “And then as the music came into focus, we were, like, ‘This is as Linkin Park an album as we could make. It’s so Linkin Park that if we call it something else, then we are idiots.’ Because it would be like misrepresentation. It’d be silly. And when people hear more of the album, they will understand that.”

Earlier this month, Linkin Park announced a big world tour across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. It will start in January with three shows in Mexico, then go to Japan and Jakarta, Indonesia. In the spring and summer, they will play in several U.S. cities and finish the tour in November in South America.