Science Fiction

by Brand New

Overview

Arriving eight years after their previous album amid massive fan speculation, Brand New finally delivered their long-awaited fifth LP, Science Fiction, in 2017. With numerous band-generated allusions to their impending break-up, the album bears the added weight of being a potential swan song and, if so, it makes for a powerful closing chapter. A lifetime away from the Long Island quartet's emo and pop-punk origins, Science Fiction is a complex and nuanced beast of introspective indie rock and detailed production. At first blush, it's not an easy listen, though it is ultimately a rewarding one. Dotted with lengthy quiet stretches and threaded together with a pastiche of unusual spoken samples and interludes, there's a rather Pink Floydian quality to producer Mike Sapone's approach that gels with some of the darker themes explored within. Opiatic first track "Lit Me Up" drips gently into existence over its six minutes before segueing into album highlight "Can't Get It Out," a masterwork of serpentine guitars and chugging rhythms whose chorus boasts a truly satisfying harmonic payoff. A tonal counterpart with a similarly appealing chorus, "In the Water," appears a little over midway through, acting like a tonic after the spiky alt-rock of "Out of Mana." Thematically anxious, depressed, questioning, and occasionally triumphant, frontman Jesse Lacey offers little in the way of lyrical resolve throughout these 12 songs, choosing instead to part with a sort of muted call to arms on Science Fiction's dreamy eight-minute finale, "Batter Up." As the track slowly winds to its murky conclusion, he quietly intones "It's never going to stop, batter up, give me your best shot, batter up." ~ Timothy Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	10/20/2017
Label:	Procrastinate! Music Traitors / Relativity Entertainment
UPC:	0616892525547
Rank:	23715

Tracks

1. Lit Me Up
2. Can't Get It Out
3. Waste
4. Could Never Be Heaven
5. Same Logic/Teeth
6. 137
7. Out of Mana
8. In the Water
9. Desert
10. No Control
11. 451
12. Batter Up

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Brand New   Primary Artist
Mike DiMeo   Organ (Hammond)
Andrew Accardi   Synthesizer
Frank Latorre   Harmonica
Michael Gagliardi   Horn

Technical Credits

Mike Sapone   Mixing
Jesse Lacey   Composer
Vincent Accardi   Composer