Just like its predecessor Get Your Heart On!, Simple Plan’s yet-untitled (but soon to be revealed) fifth studio album, which will be released in February 2016, will also include a number of special guests, who will lend their voices to some of the new SP tracks.

In one of the recent interviews Simple Plan did in Milan, for Spazio Rock [which you can read in Italian here], the boys were asked if fans could expect some interesting featurings on the record. The band members confirmed that there definitely are some surprise featurings with some “great artists” and even gave us all a small hint that “they are great friends of the band.”

Now, who exactly the guys invited to sing on their newest record we most probably won’t find out till February, but until then, we are free to guess. The fact that the artist (or artists) are great friends of Simple Plan is itself a very important clue. It means it won’t be just someone – just some big name on the scene – but somone the guys actually have some history with. There could be a number of possibilities – if we’re gonna stick with the alternative/pop-punk scene (which is where we can find most of SP’s friends) it could be some of the younger bands (or their lead singers) on the scene, such as All Time Low, who we know are very close friends with Simple Plan. However this option seems less likely as Alex Gaskarth was already featured on the last Simple Plan record (on the song “Freaking Me Out”). Another very close band to Simple Plan is Good Charlotte, who recently came back with a brand new song and a new album in works. While Joel Madden also already appeared on a Simple Plan album (you may recall his voice on “You Don’t Mean Anything” on SP’s first album), it’s been over 13 years and it would be very interesting to see what SP and GC could do together again. Who knows, maybe this time around more GC band members could be involved in a song with SP. Same thing goes to Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, who has also known SP since the beginning and also already appeared on “I’d Do Anything” on the No Pads album. In this “younger bands” regard, the guys could also think of using the help of people such as Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects, Jacob Hoggard of Hedley, Brian Logan Dales of The Summer Set or Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench (who definitely worked with Simple Plan on their new album, however it’s unknown whether just as a song-writer or something more).

And while the second/third generation of pop-punk bands are one option, there is always the option of Simple Plan turning to their even older friends/bands, who they may have toured with back in the old-school days. That could be nicely tied with their effort to bring some of the old-school pop-punk sound to some of their songs on their new record. As we know, Simple Plan are great friends or still keep in touch with the likes of Mike Herrera of MxPx, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray or Joey Cape of Bad Astronaut.

But let’s not stick to only male voices – Simple Plan already proved a number times in the past with their many collaborations with female artists – both in the studio and on the road – that Simple Plan’s songs also sound great with some fantastic female voices thrown in. If we were to think of a female voice from the scene (who could potentially be considered friends of SP), names like Jenna McDougall of Tonight Alive and even Hayley Williams of Paramore (although she might be the hardest to get with Paramore’s recent rocket to fame) come to mind. Also local lesser-known Canadian singers such as Andee or Audrey Jolin that worked with Sebastien are always a possibility.

But who do you guys think could be behind the guest vocals on Simple Plan’s album no.5? Who would you like to hear? Should SP go the male or female way? Let me know in the comments!