Cars album on the way?

Bill Janovitz, author of The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told, recently shared what he called “a remarkable opportunity”—hearing unreleased demos from the late Ric Ocasek that the surviving members of The Cars have been working on. Back in 2020, the band’s manager Jeff Kramer and Ocasek’s longtime collaborator David “Heg” Heglmeier sent about 18 demo tracks to keyboardist Greg Hawkes to see if he could build on them. With Ocasek having passed away in 2019, this project became a way for Hawkes, guitarist Elliot Easton, and drummer David Robinson to reconnect musically and creatively.

Janovitz says he got to hear more than 25 songs in various stages of development and was fascinated by how the trio navigated the process without Ocasek’s leadership. “It was really a glimpse into the inner workings of the three surviving members,” he explained. “How are these older guys navigating the personalities and musicianship?” Despite the absence of their iconic frontman, Janovitz says the music still sounds unmistakably like The Cars—some tracks even feature vocals from the late Ben Orr, which added an extra layer of nostalgia and authenticity.

When do we get to hear these reworked demos? Janovitz says it’s still up in the air. He mentioned that while there’s been talk of an EP, Hawkes joked, “EP? We’ve got like 27 songs here.” So, it’s likely we’ll see a full album of selections at some point. We’ll keep you posted.

[Source: Premiere]