Life looks a bit different for Benji and Joel Madden since Good Charlotte's last album, 2018's dark and brooding Generation Rx. Benji has welcomed two children, Joel has raised two teenagers, and they've grown the roster for their management/artist development company, MDDN. Those priorities were the reason their band took a seven-year break — and the reason they came back together for their eighth album, Motel Du Cap.

"We still have chemistry, we still have all the things that made us Good Charlotte, but we have a lot more experience, we have a lot more understanding," Benji tells GRAMMY.com. "We have different kinds of inspiration that is much deeper than any inspiration we've ever drawn on." 

Good Charlotte's hiatus prior to Motel Du Cap (which arrived Aug. 8) wasn't their first, but there was a different energy surrounding their previous pause. 2010's Cardiology marked their fifth album in 10 years, and as Joel admitted upon their return with 2016's Youth Authority, they needed to figure out who they were outside of the band. Though their latest hiatus was initiated by a similar sentiment, it was less about needing a break and more about simply enjoying life.

"We love making music — it's a passion, and it's our outlet — but that's not only who we are," Benji says. "I think we really needed the time to just be ourselves in life … separating our own value as people from music."

Those two worlds collided in April 2023, when Good Charlotte reunited to play the wedding after party for Joel's sister-in-law, Sofia Richie; it was their first gig in nearly four years. The full-circle moment made the brothers realize how their personal and professional lives can coincide — and that it was time to record another album.

Motel Du Cap's title playfully pays homage to the venue of that fateful night (Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, a luxury hotel in the South of France), and the album itself carries a celebratory feeling both lyrically and melodically. Its 12 tracks are a rather stark contrast from the heavier themes and melodies of Generation Rx, but that's no coincidence. 

"That record came at sort of the end of a cycle of growth and we started a new one," Benji says of Generation Rx. "[Motel Du Cap] is kind of kicking off a comeback. This feels like the beginning of something."

Joel suggests that Motel Du Cap feels like "a different exercise" for the group. "It's not one of achievement, and it's not one of ambition, it's one of care," he says. "Our lives now are a string of unforgettable moments … We're just living in total gratitude all the time. You can hear it in the record."

All four members of Good Charlotte — Benji, Joel, guitarist Billy Martin, and bassist Paul Thomas — now have families of their own, an inspiration most touchingly highlighted in the ballad "Castle in the Sand." The creation of that track alone showed Benji that something is different this time around: "I've been trying to write [that] song for years … [Joel and I] felt like we were missing something on the record, so I went in and tried [again], and in 15 minutes that song came out."

The rest of Motel Du Cap came that naturally, too; both Benji and Joel assert that it was the easiest album process they've ever had. In fact, the 12-song track list is just about all they wrote for the project. Joel points out that there's only "three or four" songs that didn't make the cut.

"We didn't have any intention other than making a complete record that we love," he says. "I think we really got something out of this process that I felt taught us something. It developed us more."

Their choice of collaborators likely contributed to that creative growth; notably, Motel Du Cap features the most co-writers, co-producers and featured artists of any Good Charlotte album to date. As a result, they pushed their pop-punk sound more than ever before, from the country-tinged guitar of "Deserve You" (which features rising singer/songwriter Luke Borchelt) to Wiz Khalifa's rap verse on the album's most straightforward message, "Life is Great."

The wide range of styles across Motel Du Cap is arguably the biggest indication of Good Charlotte's rejuvenated spirit, but it's felt in the lyrics as well. "Stepper" boasts their hard-fought success ("Now I'm paid to run this way/ And I'm everything I said I would be"); "I Don't Work Here Anymore" bids adieu to toxic relationships ("With every test, I tried my best not to fail/ But they always make me doubt it/ Not this time, this one's mine, I'm not for sale"); "Deserve You" honors their wives' support ("On my own, down about, going nowhere fast/ Then you took my hand, gave my life a second chance").

Even the album's most heartwrenching moment feels more at peace than somber. "The Dress Rehearsal" touches on the twin brothers' complicated relationship with their late father, who passed shortly after Generation Rx's release. "I know we didn't get it right/ Maybe we will in the next life/ Maybe there's nothing left to say/ Don't need to count all the lost days/ It's just a dress rehearsal anyway," they sing in the chorus.

Elsewhere, the songs that may not fit their current narrative feel reminiscent of the anthems that put them on the map. Lead single "Rejects" has the same resilience as "Little Things" and "The Anthem," while "Vertigo" and "Mean" channel the energy of past breakup tunes "Girls & Boys" and "Dance Floor Anthem (I Don't Want to Be in Love)."

Perhaps the most significant of them all, though, is album closer "GC Forever." The five-minute track is bookended by sentiments from the group about how far they've come since their Maryland beginnings, which is echoed in the song's reflective narrative: "I always knew we'd stay together/ And would you look at us now?"

It's both a special and timely tribute, as Sept. 26 marks 25 years since the release of their self-titled debut. Though Benji and Joel may not know what the future holds for Good Charlotte just yet, Motel Du Cap unleashed a new well of possibilities.

"We've really taken a different approach to how we treat ourselves. We have so much more to give. We want people to feel something," Benji says. "I think when we were young, we needed some kind of validation. We've managed to do a lot of work and a lot of healing, and now we want to share.

"It just feels different," he adds. "There's something special there."

As the title of Motel Du Cap's finale suggests, Joel couldn't agree more: "It makes me feel like we'll be together forever."