Filter frontman Richard Patrick freely admits that most fans of his band probably misses the heavier songs, although tunes like the ballad 'Take a Picture' are appreciated. But he felt the John Cusack movie '2012' needed a softer, quieter track like 'Fades Like a Photograph.'

"This movie is about the end of the world," Patrick told Noisecreep. "[The producers] said, 'I want a song that's kind of about wishing you would have taken more pictures; you just tried to savor the moments you have with people and places on the planet. If you knew the world was going to end, wouldn't you want to savor every moment of living?'

"I thought to myself, 'It's a great concept.' I've written about photography before. I figured it was a nice little homage to 'Take a Picture.' 'Fades Like a Photograph,' things disappear, pictures fade and a moment in time keeps fading. Obviously we've done soundtracks for a lot of different things over the years. It's kind of like something I do. I love Hollywood. I love the movie industry, and I love being a part of it."

'Fades Like a Photograph,' written by Patrick and the film's producer/composer Harald Koser and Thomas Wander, was produced by Patrick and features the band's John Spiker, Mitch Marlow and Mika Fineo, as well as former Filter member Brian Liesegang. 'Photograph' marks the first time Patrick and Liesegang have worked together on recorded material in over a decade.

"Brian and I had kind of a tumultuous relationship when we were literally in the same band," Patrick said quietly. "But when Brian started working on Ashtar Command and kind of found his own space in the world, I think he kind of realized 'Hey. What's it like working with Filter?' I called him and I said, 'I have a beautiful song that I'd love you to work on.' I sent him the track and put all his great sound design over the top of it. Then later he came out and jumped on stage when I did a show with Korn in Chicago. He played 'Hey Man, Nice Shot' with me. It was great. It was really great."

Currently, Filter are working on a new album with producer Bob Marlette. Patrick said he's considering a handful of titles. However, he's unsure which one he's going to go with. He may let the fans decide. Patrick explained this album is a little more "angry."

"I tried to remember some of the climate I was in when I kind of came up with the band," Patrick said. "I remember a lot of anger and angst and trying to remember what I was like when I first kind of came up with this band. It dropped to a whole different level of reflection. Some of it rekindled some of the anger that I felt over the last 10 years, last 20 years of making music.

"I wanted to definitely go back to 'The Amalgamut,' not necessarily 'Short Bus.' I've been talking about trying to make it sound like 'Short Bus,' but the reality is I love live drums. Drum machines are great, but I love the power and energy of live drums. I think people miss the heaviness in Filter, and I'm totally down with that. I miss it, too. When we play our shows, people are all about the heavy stuff."

He said every Filter record has to be diverse as he does not like writing the same song "10 times."

"I'm not one of those guys where I only do one thing," Patrick said. "'Fades Like a Photograph' is perfect for this movie and it fits the vibe of this film. And that's what I was asked to do by Harold and Roland [Emmerich, disaster movie maven]. But my band Filter needs to kind of return to its meaner side.

"'Anthems [for the Damned]' was an important record for me to make. Sitting back, a friend of ours had been killed and he was only 21 years old when he got killed. I had to make a record that was a protest. I had to make a record that was kind of an homage to him. Now the new Filter record is going to be way more of just what's going on in my head and what I think my audience is kind of feeling. There's a lot of really happy friendly gorgeous music out there. I've got some of that. But I think my fans kind of miss pissed off, 'Short Bus' Richard Patrick. I want to make sure I have that on this record."

But as for 'Fades Like a Photograph,' Patrick wanted make the song top notch, for which he strives in all his work.

"Songwriting is always an incredible, expressive [process]," he said. "Once you figure out there's a fire in the room, you've got to stamp it out or pour gasoline on it. Whenever I feel that creative energy, lyrics are constantly floating in your mind, and you always have to make sure you have a dictaphone or a pad of paper. Over the years, I've forgotten some pretty cool shit. You just have to make sure you are sitting in front of your computer and capturing what you need to say as a lyricist. People have been really responding to the lyrics. They really understand. If you're going to write a song about dying and if you're going to write a song about really missing your life, you better bring your A game when it comes to lyrics. I just wanted to capture that and I think I did."

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