Green Day spoke with The USA Today about their forthcoming album. Regarding the album, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong explained:

[After American Idiot] we asked how much more ambitious can we be? We could take a sideways step or go back to our roots. We chose to move forward. It's about reflecting what's been happening the past three years and putting it to melody with some bold statements.

Though there aren't too many details, the article named one song, "March of the Dogs," which apparently criticizes religious hypocrisy..

The band has also unveiled the artwork for the album.