When Adam Yauch announced last July that doctors found a cancerous tumor in his parotid gland, cancelled shows and a postponed new album made everyone wonder when we'd hear from the Beastie Boys again.

However, the New York rapper seemed to be in better shape when he walked the red carpet at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 5 to support 'The Messenger' and 'Treeless Mountain,' two nominated films that were distributed by his company, Oscilloscope Laboratories.

"I feel better," Yauch told Entertainment Weekly. "It was touch and go there for a while, but I'm finally getting my energy back."

Now that Yauch is moving towards good health, the hip-hop group now hopes to get their new record, 'Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1,' out to the people after it was delayed due to Yauch's illness. Still, the release date will all depend on the state of Yauch's health condition in the coming months. "It was really disappointing to have to hold the record and postpone the tour, but doctors' orders," Yauch said. "We may or may not [release the album] depending on how my heath is come September. We want to, but we have to play it by ear."

While it's still unclear if 'Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1' will drop this year, Yauch said the group still plans to revisit the album and give it another look over soon. "I was just talking to Adam [Horovitz] and Mike [D] today on the phone and we were talking about working on it a bit," he said. "We finished the record over a year ago, so we want to take a look at it and re-evaluate and make sure it is what we want to put out there and that we are still happy with it. I don't think we will change it up too much."