Release Date: TBA 2016
The Buildup
In April 2015, Brand New shocked a crowd in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium by debuting a new song—their first in six years. The following week, the Long Island emo band shared the track "Mene," officially. At that moment, there was no news of a new album...but the band was hitting the road pretty hard, eventually totally killing it at Coachella.
Fast forward to June of that year and frontman Jesse Lacey let it slip that a new Brand New record of some kind was, in fact, in the works. He sat down with Spanish magazine Rockzone and shared that new BN music, like, in the form of an actual EP or LP will arrive later this year. Eeeeee! Alternative Press published the translation of his comments:
"Yes, I have no problem talking about this with you. You're the first person with whom I have an interview in a while. We have a new album to get. There is no secret. The thing is that it is not ready, so to speak. Hopefully it out this year, at least that is our aim. We do not know whether it will be an EP of seven songs or so, or the traditional LP of 14 songs. We have many songs that we've been working, but hey, I guess sometimes you have to face what you have steeping a little, as I said before. Is something that we have to adapt, one day seems that we will get and the next we were a little farther out."
It was radio silence from team Brand New until January 2016, when the band announced they were hitting the road once again, this time with Modest Mouse. It left us hopeful that new music would arrive before the summer tour dates.
A few days later, it became official: a new BN full-length would happen, and at some point in 2016. The quartet's record label, Procrastinate! Music Traitors, included a Brand New release on their cryptic 2016 rundown, Alternative Press reported. The list, available here, included a listing for "Procrastinate! confirmed record releases for year 2016," with an entry that reads "Brand New (band/unconfirmed format)."
In April, the conspiracy theories surfaced. Procrastinate! Music Traitors shared their very first Instagram, a generic photo of a tree and explosion, see it above. The caption reads "Procrastinate! Music Traitors. Established in the year of Our Lord two thousand and four. Reveal thine own light.Know gods just work. 418." The "418" referred to when the image was posted (April 18) but, as Alternative Press revealed, there's been talk that it refers to either the date of Brand New's long-awaited final album or the time they'll finally, officially, permanently disband: April 2018.
The Music
On May 17, 2016, Brand New shared a 30-second snippet of a new song via Amazon. On the track frontman Jesse Lacey sings: "Do I have to die to see the other side? / I am a nightmare and you are a miracle." The latter phrase repeats throughout the chorus. It's high-energy and totally self-deprecating in a way that kind of recalls now-era Taking Back Sunday or their tour mates in Modest Mouse. They promised a full version of the song, titled "I Am a Nightmare," on Friday, May 20, but ended up dropping it the same afternoon. Listen to it above.
Tracklist
There's no tracklisting just yet, but we're pretty positive "I Am a Nightmare" will make an appearance on the new LP...here's hoping, at the very least!
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