Roger Daltrey "couldn’t hear" the music Pete Townshend had made for their new album at first.
The Who frontman has been battling with deafness for some time through more than 50 years of playing with the iconic British rock band, and when the band’s guitarist sent him the songs for their first album since 2006’s ‘Endless Wire’ for him to add his vocals to, it was at a time when his hearing was at its worst and he could barely hear a thing.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Daltrey said: "Pete’s music arrived at a time when I was having trouble with my ears so I couldn’t hear it."
The ‘Baba O’Riley’ singer says that he is unable to listen to music very often because it could cause further damage and admitted that every time the band go on tour, it gets "a little worse".
He added: "I don’t listen to much now because my hearing is getting so bad.
"Every tour I do, it gets a little worse.
"I can still hear the birds singing and I want to keep what little hearing I’ve got left. I just like silence."
Daltrey, 75, admitted that when he eventually was able to listen to the songs, he felt they sounded more fitting for a "Pete solo album", but his bandmate says he wanted to "challenge" the frontman.
The ‘Pinball Wizard’ singer said: "I thought, ‘These songs are so good but they sound like a Pete solo album.’
"But then I’m going, ‘How can I make them mine, how can we turn them into an even better Who album?’"
Townshend added: "I wrote about 40 songs and extracted ten or 15 I could challenge Roger with.
"I wanted him to feel excited."
Townshend, 73, has been recording the record at the iconic British Grove Studios – where The Rolling Stones produced their 2016 covers LP ‘Blue & Lonesome’ – whilst Daltrey lays down his vocals elsewhere, something they’ve always done.
Townshend added: "Writing music he can sing, even if there are only two of us left, makes it The Who."
The legendary guitar player admitted that he still feels "bruised" when Daltrey says something "negative" about his work.
He confessed: "If he says anything negative about the songs, I’m going to be bruised, even if he says, ‘I really like the middle bit. . . ’
Daltrey agreed: "Exactly, it’s like criticising his children."
The latter also revealed that he visualises himself panting a picture when he is "interpreting" Townshend’s lyrics and admitted it can take a long time because it has to "come from [his] heart".
The rock singer explained: "For me, interpreting the songs is challenging, like painting a portrait of an incredibly interesting looking person.
"I have to do a lot of sketches before I get it right and when I get it right, I know it in my head.
"One of my problems is that I can’t read lyrics and sing them. They have to come from my heart."
Roger Daltrey ‘couldn’t hear’ new Who songs during extreme deaf spell
