Linkin Park rose to fame while I was in High School. Back then, I was already deep into extreme metal such as Death Metal and Black Metal, and I wasn’t one of the cool kids in the playground listening to Linkin Park with their roller skate.

I actually started really interested around the time The Hunting Party came out, and I also followed closely on Mike Shinoda’s solo career.

And then one day it seemed like this era was finished, in a tragic and definitive manner. I kept listening to Mike’s work, and his album Post Traumatic carried me through a lot.

As I sharpened my skills as a songwriter, it was also extremely interesting to analyze his work in terms of songwriting, production and lyrics.

A couple of months ago, I got a rather cryptic message about connecting online to some sort of Linkin Park related something. Now, I had heard on the grapevine that there were rumors of stadiums books under LP, but shrugged it off. It was late, and I honestly expected Mike doing a bit of a chat or interview.

Instead, we got a new song. With Emily. And it was amazing. And then it was a full 1 hour live performance. And then a full album, and a tour. It was Christmas all of a sudden.

I was very lucky to be able to attend to Paris show at La Defense Arena.
It was an incredibly emotional show. Sure, the scenography was cool. But the setlist was insane. The energy on stage unbelievable. And they were having fun. And we, 45000 fans, were singing and screaming every single lyrics.

And then they performed My December, and everyone cried.

But Christmas was not over.
The next morning, a friend asked me if I was available to attend the listening session of the new album. I sure was.

Long story short, the staff cut the listening session during the second song, The Emptiness Machine, and Mike, Colin and Dave entered the room. They were extremely sweet and humble and it was a gift to listen to them talk about their process with this album. Seeing how happy they were, how relieved they were that the fans had their backs, when they thought no one wanted to hear from them anymore… was so intense.
Then we got to listen to the full album. 20ish superfans singing, crying, dancing, jumping.
And then they announced a tour for 2025. And it sold out so quick.

So, I decided to try and record a cover of My December. It’s not one of their big, famous radio songs. It’s an old one. It’s heart wrenching. It’s beautiful, and the version they now play live is incredible.
It took a few takes to be able to get through the song without bursting in tears. I recorded it at home, mixed it myself to the best of my abilities, and here it is. I am very grateful to Linkin Park for accepting my cover licence.

I know a lot of people don’t like this new album and this new era.
But they are happy. They are having fun. And this is the most beautiful human feeling to witness. The world needs more of this and less of anonymous online haters.