The Used Mix Personal & Political On New Album 'Imaginary Enemy'

The Used are veterans to the hard rock scene. Now on their sixth full-length, the band knows where to find—and how to channel—inspiration. 

Imaginary Enemy tackles some hard issues, something frontman Bert McCracken is more than open about. "We had the idea to kind of make a more selfless record than we’ve ever written before. [We wanted to make] a more conscious record that asks some pretty serious philosophical questions about where our place in the world is and what it means to be free."

It's not totally left field for the band. "I think a lot of themes that we’ve touched on in the past [are] about becoming a better human being and that you learn a lot more from losing than you doing winning," the singer explained. "We’re trying to take a more macro look at the world instead of making this record more about us," McCracken says. "The revolution that we’re talking about is a personal revolution of information. I think that the key to changing anything is understanding."