Brian Johnson said the spirit of Malcolm Young was most evident in the song “Through the Mists of Time” on the new AC/DC album Power Up.

The singer said thoughts of the band's late co-founder and rhythm guitarist going through his mind as he recorded vocals for the song, which includes lyrics written by lead guitarist Angus Young. “Whenever I hear it, I still get goose bumps,” Johnson told the Independent in a new interview.

“I still think of him. I was thinking of him when I sang it. It’s just these things about the happy days when we first started in the ‘80s, when I first joined the band. I just remember these very happy, carefree days. And Angus did a magnificent job of putting those lyrics together. I think he really felt it, too, because him and Malcolm were inseparable.”

You can listen to "Through the Mists of Time" below.

Johnson noted that Malcolm’s presence was evident to the whole band when they started the record's sessions. “None of us are spiritual, please don’t even think that,” he explained. “But he was just there. He was a strong, strong character in real life, and passing on didn’t seem to affect his character! He was there and we all knew it. We all just had this enthusiastic feeling that we were doing something that was worthwhile for Malcolm, that would make him proud.”

He also recalled how Malcolm treated him when they had first met, when AC/DC were holding auditions to replace the late Bon Scott in 1980. “I opened the door and I went, ‘Hello lads, I’m Brian from Newcastle – sorry, I’ve been a bit late!’" Johnson remembered. "And Malcolm went, ‘Oh, there you are!’ And he came over and he gave me bottle of brown ale, and he said, ‘It’s a long drive down, isn’t it?’”

Saying the moment put him at ease, Johnson added: “I didn’t know them as individuals; they could’ve been snotty, but they [weren’t]. … Malcolm was so generous with himself to everybody. He always had time. Mind … he lost his temper because somebody had really been dumb … he just wouldn’t suffer fools gladly.”

 

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