Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Announce New Album ‘This Unruly Mess I’ve Made’

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have announced their new album This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. This is the follow-up to 2012’s breakout The Heist.

The self-released LP arrives February 26.

In the months before the album’s announcement, the two have shared three songs from the record: “Downtown” featuring Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, and Eric Nally, “Growing Up (Sloane’s Song)” featuring Ed Sheeran, and “Kevin,” a collaboration with Leon Bridges.

The large gap between the album releases was due to Macklemore’s drug relapse. The rapper, who has been open about his drug addiction and previous 2011 relapse, admits that the fame and fortune was his temptation.

“I held it together for a while. But, eventually, I stopped going to my 12-step meetings. I was burnt out. I was super-stressed. We weren’t sleeping — doing a show every day, zigzagging all over the country. In terms of the media I was getting put into a box that I never saw for myself. The pressure and the fame — everything. All the clichés, man — like not being able to walk around, having no privacy, and from this TV appearance to this TV appearance, and the criticism, and the lack of connection, and the lack of meetings — all of that put into one pie was just … I just wanted to escape.”

The duo is currently on tour.