Brand New

Science Fiction

"It was a good dream..." - "Lit Me Up" - 2017

The year is 2017, and acclaimed American emo band Brand New announces their final album, "Science Fiction". It had previously been delayed a year, but everyone knew that the band was essentially done. They'd done everything they wanted to - toured the world, sold a bunch of records, and became one of the most acclaimed emo bands of all time with just 4 albums, from their pop-punk roots on their debut "Your Favorite Weapon" in 2001, to their radical reinventions on the following "Deja Entendu" and the most acclaimed album of their entire career, the 2006 emo classic "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me". They had nothing to prove, they were legends of the genre. But they decided to have one more tour, one more swing at securing their legacy... and what we got ended up being, against all odds, their best album.

Brand New stuck to their emo roots but decided to create their version of a "swan song", a final gesture of good will for their fans to hold onto. It's a slow, melodic and mature journey that muses about their entire career, things they would've done differently or not at all if given the chance, and the feeling of finally being able to let go from past insecurities and regrets, and being comfortable in their own skin for possibly the first time in their entire career. There's a sense of comfort here, because they knew it would be their final album. For the first time in their entire career, Brand New sound truly at ease, even if that sense of stability is occasionally shaky.

It's a slow, meditative journey through their psyches during this period. The songs have become slower, more melodic, and their voices definitely show a weary age to them... but it makes it their most personal and human album. I consider the album itself to be a loosely conceptual release, regretting about past mistakes but having the courage to break free, letting all your insecurities pour out for the world to see and pick at. Jesse Lacey, their main vocalist and a key songwriter, is in top form across this entire album. His musings are more philosophical, as he openly ponders on the bittersweet closer "Batter Up" - "Are there pastures bathed in some uncertain light where you won't graze? Paths you don't take? ... What does it feel like to shine between everything?", which are among the finest lyrics he ever wrote.

But all the songs themselves are diverse in topics, the opening stretch on the soothing "Lit Me Up" where Lacey states bluntly, "It lit me up like a torch on a pitch black night, like an ember in the needles of a dried out pine, it lit me up and I burn from the inside-out..." to their strikingly beautiful and honest approach to the topic of self-harm on "Same Logic/Teeth" where Lacey bluntly confesses in the opening verse: "It's hard to walk through all the places that your life used to be in, so you thought you'd shed a layer, maybe try on some new skin, your friends are all imaginary, your shrink stopped answering her phone, so you decide to make incisions at your home while you're all alone, all alone..." and later on, "And you've got your kind of brand new face on, where all the skin's pulled thin and taut, and every kid you see starts crying so you stop going out for walks, well I guess nothing can be perfect so here's a comforting thought... at the bottom of the ocean, fish won't judge you by your faults..." which sounds like him both yearning to live a normal life away from the spotlight but also a self-critique on his own looks, where he's a monster who makes people cry by just being there with them, in particular the final line seems to be about suicide.

Lacey almost considers his previous successes undeserved, because he wasn't being as honest as he said before. Songs like "Can't Get It Out" state simply: "Not just a manic depressive, toting around in my own cloud... I've got a positive message, sometimes I can't get it out... (x4)" and "I thought I was a creator, I'm here just hanging around, got my messiah impression, I think I got it nailed down...". The internal struggle between continuing and stopping are apparent on every song, where it feels like the band are almost falling apart trying to accept that their time has come - they've been doing this for almost 20 years, they have families of their own now, and they really should stop, but at the same time they can't imagine a world without their special band.

The struggle seems to melt away near the end, though. "In the Water" seems to accept their fate, with lyrics like: "Never had it any other way, drowning in the praise... never had a chance to break apart, hard for them to see... and "I can't think it enough, can't say it enough, can't do it enough, so everyone'll wait." being autobiographical musings about their careers, but accepting that it's time to stop, instead of parading around a dead corpse of a band.

The closing track finally comes to terms with their resignation and acceptance, while not totally closing the door on their regrets. "Batter Up" is the slowest song they ever wrote, and for good reason. It's led mostly by a reverb-drenched guitar, and is their most stripped-down song as well in many ways. But it's also one of their finest moments lyrically ever, and it seems to read as their reasoning on why they finally came to accept everything. "It's never going to stop, batter up, give me your best shot, batter up..." is the general sentiment - fight against the struggle, whether metaphorical or literal, and you'll give yourself a fighting chance. Then, at the very least, you can say you tried, even if you ended up giving in. You tried your honest best, but sometimes it might not be enough, and that's fine.

"In the end, we weren't much, but the hollow space shrank down inside all of us. For the good, of all men, hold me down, underwater and don't let me up again..."

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