According to frontman Tim McIlwrath, inspiration for at least one song on Rise Against‘s new album came from a very strange place: The Dixie Chicks. The 31-year-old recently told Spin that the Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice” – which addresses the response to negative comments singer Natalie Maines made about then-president George W. Bush – shows that a band that exists in the pop music realm can still be against popular opinion. “It goes without saying,” he said, “[that] our opinion will ruffle feathers.”

The Chicago-based outfit has never shyed away from politics in their music and RIO!B has informed is that their latest album, Endgame, is due March 15th via Universal and will probably go down a similar road. “We’re living under this black cloud of doom.  Everything’s spiraling out of control,” said McIlwrath, “The record is all about that.”

Longtime producers Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore – who have produced three of the band’s last five albums – are once again at the helm and while fans of the band’s “Swing Life Away” may not be too excited about the prospect of hearing a bunch of angry protest songs, McIlwrath has promises that a few songs venture into a “slower, more ballad-esque” sonic landscape.

That’s the artwork over there, and if you live in south of the equator, then you can get a glimpse of the new songs when the band opens a South American and European tour on February 25th in Brazil.