Red Hot Chili Peppers released Return of the Dream Canteen on October 14, 2022, through Warner Records. Their 13th studio album followed Unlimited Love that April, with both records drawn from the same sessions with producer Rick Rubin. Across two 17-song albums, the band made its reunion with guitarist John Frusciante an unusually productive return.
The band introduced the second collection with “Tippa My Tongue,” released in August with a video directed by Malia James. Drummer Chad Smith told Billboard he heard George Clinton and Jimi Hendrix in the song, describing a mix of influences that made it a natural choice to introduce the album. Its video combined the band’s performance with animation by Julien Calemard and Thami Nabil.
That abundance began with time to write. Smith credited the pandemic pause in touring and Frusciante’s return with giving the four musicians an opportunity to work without the usual deadline. Songs that might once have remained unfinished were completed, leaving the band with enough material for another full record. In their album announcement, the Chili Peppers described reconnecting through jams and old songs before moving into new writing. They kept going as the material accumulated, eventually choosing to release two double albums. For Smith, the second collection deserved its own release because the band had finished songs it wanted people to hear.
The dividing line between the two records emerged during mixing. Frusciante told Guitar Player that the order in which the band chose songs to mix helped determine the division. Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Frusciante would each suggest a track, and the sequence developed from those choices. He had ideas about which songs should wait, though, and “Eddie” was one he specifically wanted on the second record. He thought listeners would respond to it and wanted to protect the strength of both albums. “Let’s save that one,” he recalled telling his bandmates.
“Eddie” had begun with Flea’s response to Eddie Van Halen’s death. In a statement accompanying the song’s September release, Kiedis said the bassist arrived at rehearsal the following day with a bassline, and the rest of the band joined in. The song developed as they played together, turning their grief into a tribute. Kiedis explained that its lyrics referred to Van Halen’s early Sunset Strip years without naming him directly. He wanted the emphasis to fall on the life the guitarist had lived and the music he had given them, rather than his death.
Frusciante’s contribution also reflected the electronic music he had made outside the band. Speaking to Mixmag, he described treating vocals and instruments with delays, reverbs and synthesizers, applying techniques he used when working with samples. His reference points included Brian Eno’s work with Roxy Music and David Bowie’s synthesizers on Iggy Pop’s The Idiot: recordings in which electronics could change the character of a live band without replacing it. That approach let him work on more than guitar parts. Processing Kiedis’ voice or altering another instrument became another way to shape a song, with occasional unfamiliar sounds entering the group’s performances.
The two-album release plan produced a second sales-chart debut at No. 1. Return of the Dream Canteen entered Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart at the top, matching Unlimited Love’s result earlier in 2022. “Tippa My Tongue” also became the band’s 15th No. 1 on Alternative Airplay.
