The Devil Wears Prada guitarist Kyle Sipress posted a video to Instagram showing himself learning songs from the band’s upcoming album. The keyword here is learning, which caused some confusion among fans who wondered why he wouldn’t already know the songs if he helped write them. Sipress clarified in the comments that he wasn’t part of the writing process for the new record, admitting that it does make him “sad” not to have been involved creatively as he was in the past. The video caption read: 

“Spent a few days learning some of the new songs from the new Prada record. This one’s called Everybody Knows.“

When a fan commented that they weren’t sure how to feel about some members being excluded from the creative process, Sipress responded:

“I really appreciate that but it just is what it is. While it does make me sad and I wish I was a part of the creative side like I used to be, I do get to play guitar on stage for a living. Hopefully my ability to play live does the job this record calls for.”

When another commenter asked why he didn’t write the guitar parts for the album, Sipress replied:

“It’s pretty complicated but I think at the end of the day they had a vision and direction that was just easier and more conductive with me not being involved. Trying new things out and having less/different cooks in the kitchen.”