Smash Mouth are back with their first new single from an upcoming studio album, and the story behind it might be just as interesting as the release itself.
The band have unveiled “Better Believer”, the lead single from their forthcoming seventh studio album Mercury Comet, which arrives on August 12. The record marks Smash Mouth’s first album of original material since 2012’s Magic and their first non holiday studio release in more than a decade.
For founding bassist Paul DeLisle, the album represents a new chapter for the band while staying true to the sound and personality that helped make Smash Mouth one of the most recognisable names in alternative rock and pop culture.
One of the most personal moments on the album comes from its lead single. DeLisle revealed that former frontman Steve Harwell once challenged him by saying he couldn’t write hit songs. Rather than brushing off the comment, he used it as motivation.
“Steve once told me I couldn’t write hit songs,” DeLisle recalled. “I took that as a challenge. I went home and wrote ‘Better Believer.’ When I played it for him, he loved it.”
Although the band never got the chance to record the track with Harwell before his passing in 2023, the song remained important to the group and has now become the first taste of Mercury Comet.
DeLisle also stressed that while he led much of the songwriting process, the album was very much a collaborative effort between the current members of Smash Mouth.
The release also comes alongside a busy touring schedule, with the band set to perform across North America, Japan and Mexico throughout the rest of 2026. Fans will get their first chance to hear material from Mercury Comet alongside classics from the band’s catalogue when the tour kicks off this month.
More than a decade after their last original studio album, Smash Mouth are officially entering a new era, and Mercury Comet is set to be the soundtrack to it.
