New Again

Background

In June 2007, vocalist Adam Lazzara said Taking Back Sunday were preparing to the write the follow-up album to Louder Now (2006) shortly. In July, bassist Matthew Rubano mentioned that the other members of the band were in the process of writing individually in separate locations: Rubano in Manhattan, Lazzara in Texas, guitarist Fred Mascherino in Jersey, drummer Mark O'Connell on Long Island and guitarist Eddie Reyes in Ohio. From late July to early September, the band participated in the 2007 Projekt Revolution tour. During the tour, the band brought along a mobile recording studio with them and demoed material, as well as further writing for their next album. Plans to do serious writing, as well as record their next album towards the end of year were in place.

However, following the end of the tour, Mascherino left the band. He said, "It was getting to the point where I felt I had taken the road as long as I possibly could," and his compositions were "more pop than anyone else [in the band] wanted to go." In October, the group revealed that their next album was "in its very early stages." In December, Rubano said the group were in New York City working on new material, having already written six songs. Prior to demoing, O'Connell had to have back surgery, after having previously injured his back during the Projekt Revolution tour. During the demoing process, the group tried different drummers, but, according to Rubano: "They just weren't Mark. Not enough ferocity, intensity." Following this, the band members took time to refocus themselves after several years of constant touring. Lazzara sorted his life out following addictions and a called-off engagement with Chauntelle DuPree of Eisley, and subsequently moved to another town, got married and had a child. O'Connell also got married, Reyes spent time with his family, and Rubano recorded music for the TV show Electric Company.

In May 2008, it was announced that guitarist Matthew Fazzi, formerly of Facing New York, had joined the band. Reyes, who had previously met Fazzi during Facing New York's stint on the 2004 Warped Tour, asked Fazzi over text whether he wanted to audition for Taking Back Sunday. Rubano was uneasy with Fazzi initially: "He was this very nice, very talented, ambitious, happy guy, and I was like, ‘This guy isn’t going to last with us, this guy’s the wrong fit.’” Around this time, Fazzi and Rubano visited Lazzara in Texas; accompanied by acoustic guitars and a bass, the trio would practice in Lazzara's living room. Here, the trio wrote "New Again"; the song helped "catapult the energy for the beginning of writing [New Again] forward," according to Rubano. During an appearance at the Virgin Mobile Festival in August 2008, Spin reported that the band was on the brink of entering a recording studio.

Production

In October 2008, the band began recording a new album, with the aim to release it in early 2009. The group initially wanted to go with Eric Valentine as a producer, but, according to Lazzara, "the timing didn’t work." Sessions were produced by David Kahne, who also engineered overdubs. He aimed to capture the "power and scope" of the group's live performances. The group worked with Kahne due to Fazzi; upon founding out he produced Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full (2007) album, the group said "let's go work with him," according to Lazzara. Tracking was engineered by Evil Joe Barresi, with additional production and engineering performed by Jamie Siegel.

Recording as done at Avatar Studios, with assistance from Justin Gerrish, and at See Squared Studios in New York City, New York. The majority of the album had been recorded in five days. Additional recording took place at J-Rock Studios, also in New York City, with assistance from Anthony Lenoci. Further recording for "Sink into Me" was done at J-Rock Studios, as well as NRG Studios in North Hollywood, California, and The Village in Los Angeles, California. "Where My Mouth Is" was produced by Matt Squire with engineer Bill Appleberry. The track was recorded at NRG Studios, with assistance from Casey Lewis, and at The Village, with assistance from Jared Nugent. Squire also provided additional production and engineering on "Sink into Me."

The recordings were mixed by Tom Lord-Alge at South Beach Studios in Miami, Florida, with assistance from Fernio Hernandez. Ted Jensen mastered the recordings at Sterling Sound in New York City, New York. On November 6, the band announced they were "putting the finshing [sic] touches on the album." In retrospect, Lazzara called Kahne "a good producer," but didn't think he was "the right fit" for the group. Lazzara added that what the group aimed to accomplish was "just different than what he had envisioned both sonically and with all of that stuff." Reyes said he was "pre-warned about working with him and I didn't listen to that. ... It was kind of very blank. I think I put my guitar tracks on and then I flew back home and that was it."

Overview

An early title for the album was When All Is Said and Done More Is Said Than Done, suggested by Fazzi. The group liked it, however, Fazzi said it was "way too long to fit on a side of a CD." According to Lazzara, the album was given the title New Again because "that's what it feels like. We are in a totally different band, just because there has been this new life breathed into the band with the addition of Matt[hew Fazzi]." Fazzi said the group wanted to "put a new foot forward ... to show people that we're expanding the music." Fazzi mentioned that the song structures and chord patterns were "just a bit stronger and smarter."

According to Lazzara, Fazzi was a major contributor in writing New Again: "Experimenting ... a lot of different instruments, horns, glockenspiels, there's a flautist on the record. And it's stuff we never would've tried before." The group's manager Jillian Newman also mentioned Fazzi's influence: "[Fazzi] brought a really positive, happy energy to the band. A lot of the walls came down during writing. He allowed everybody to try new things." With New Again, Lazzara considered his lyrics to be "a lot more forward," compared to past releases. Reyes called the album "one of the most aggressive records we've ever written." The album's sound has been described as pop punk, pop rock and post-hardcore.

Songs

Rubano had a bassline that, within an hour of playing it, became the track "New Again." After writing it, Fazzi said it was a "no-brainer for a opener." O'Connell called it "powerful" and said it "sets the mood" for the album. One day during rehearsals, Fazzi played a guitar riff, then O'Connell played along, resulting in "Sink into Me." The song begins with cheerleader-esque "hey!"s that Fazzi came up with. Lazzara referred to it as a "freight train. ... if you were to stand in front of it, you would get pummeled." Lazzara also mentioned that the music to it was "unlike anything we've ever done before. It's real[ly] upbeat." For "Lonely, Lonely," Lazzara said it was the "first time that we just turned it up to ten and went with it." With the song, Fazzi said the group wanted something "short, to the point and just punishing from start to finish." The bridge for the song had been suggested by Fazzi during his audition for the band. "Summer, Man" was one of the first songs written for New Again. It was composed during the Projekt Revolution tour, and originally consisted of a bridge guitar riff that Reyes had. Rubano said it was the band's take on a Beach Boys-esque song.

O'Connell came up with "Swing," a song that Rubano said "speaks to what the sound of the band is right now." "Where My Mouth Is" was the last song recorded for New Again. According to Lazzara, the lyrics were "the most blatant that I've ever been in a song." The demo for the song was originally acoustic with an organ, mostly instrumental and ran for 6–7 minutes. Fazzi praised the track, as did Rubano. The song subsequently went through various arrangement changes. The riff for "Cut Me Up Jenny" came from Lazzara: "I was so bored and so lazy, I picked up the guitar and then the [mimics intro guitar riff]. That's where it came from and we made a song out of it." Lazzara described it as "a little choppy" with "a nice groove to it." Fazzi said the track has a "crazy 80s vibe, it's a very different song for Taking Back Sunday." When "Catholic Knees" existed as a rough idea, Fazzi suggested that the group change the time signature to 7/4. Lazzara cited it as an example of Fazzi's influence on the band: "'Cause none of us would have thought to [change the time signature]." Reyes compared the track to Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters.

Rubano came up with the main riff for "Capital M-E," which Lazzara called "too easy" after hearing it for the first time, "like it needs something else." Rubano was adamant, saying "work on it, we'll figure it out." While Reyes compared it to Weezer, Rubano compared it to early Taking Back Sunday, in the sense that "it's a very simple song and about the energy you put behind it." Lyrically, it was inspired by a comment Mascherino made during interview after leaving the band: "[Taking Back Sunday was] more about cooking food than making music." Lazzara said "it would probably be the first and last time that I'll go in-depth about that subject." "Carpathia" was named after the ship RMS Carpathia, which was the first ship to hear a distress call from the RMS Titanic. With the lyrics, Lazzara said he tried to be "really obvious with it." The track features a bass solo, which was originally suggested by Fazzi and Lazzara. "Everything Must Go" details the split between Lazzara and DuPree. The title originally appeared as a lyric in an early draft of the song. Lazzara called "Didn't See That Coming" "really slow and almost haunting." Lazzara said it was a prequel to "Cut Me Up Jenny."

Release and promotion

In November 2008, the band revealed the name of their next album: New Again. In December, the group went on a tour of the US with Envy on the Coast. On December 22, "Carpathia" was made available for streaming via YouTube. On March 17, 2009, New Again was announced for release. Following an appearance at Bamboozle Left in April, the band went on a tour of Europe with Underoath, Emery and Innerpartysystem. On April 17, the album's track listing was revealed, and "New Again" was released as a free download. The band released a 7" vinyl single of "Carpathia," with a live version of "Catholic Knees" as the B-side, on April 18 as part of Record Store Day. On April 19, "Sink into Me" was made available for streaming, and released via the iTunes Store on April 24. "Catholic Knees (26th St. Shakedown)" served as a single's B-side. The music video for the song, which had been filmed in New York with director Travis Kopach in early April, premiered on May 11 via MTV.com. The video features the band covered in black goo, a reference to The X-Files' black oil, sinking into a stage. The following day, Rubano revealed that "an entirely acoustic reinterpretation" of New Again was in the works. On May 18, "Everything Must Go" was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace profile.

Following an appearance at Bamboozle Festival, the band went on a US tour in May and June with Anberlin and Envy on the Coast. For every two tickets purchased for this tour, fans received a digital download copy of New Again. New Again was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace account on May 28, and released on June 2 through major label Warner Bros. Records. People that pre-ordered the limited version of the album received two extra songs: "Didn't See That Coming" and "Catholic Knees (26th St. Shakedown)." A deluxe edition included a DVD with a making-of feature of the recording process, as well as a track-by-track commentary from the band. The iTunes edition included "Long Time Comin'" and the music video for "Sink into Me" as bonus tracks. In promoting the album, Warner Bros. senior vice-president of marketing Rob Gordon said the promotional campaign would accomplish two points: "No. 1 is energizing the fan base. No. 2 is taking this band from the world of ... whatever you want to call it to an arena-rock band," such as the Foo Fighters. To help with the first point, the label worked with Myspace to hold listening sessions aboard the band's tour bus in various cities. The album's release was followed by a European tour in July. "New Again" was released as a single on July 24 with an acoustic version of "Sink into Me" as the B-side. In late July and early August, the band toured the UK with support from Twin Atlantic.

In August and September 2009, the band supported Blink-182 on their North American tour. "Where My Mouth Is" was released to radio on September 1. In late October, the band went on a brief tour of the US. In November and December, the band went on a co-headlining tour of the US with The All-American Rejects, with support from Anberlin. The Japanese edition of the album was released on December 9 through Warner Music Japan and included "Didn't See That Coming" as a bonus track. In February and March 2010, the band participated in theSoundwave festival in Australia. Alongside this tour, the band performed sideshows with Enter Shikari. After returning home, Rubano sent the rest of the band song ideas, which were ignored: "No responses to like half a dozen songs being sent out. Just, very weird." Following two weeks of no communication with the band, three members of the band and their manager held a conference call with Rubano. During the call, the band stated their intention of continuing without him. Likewise, Fazzi received a call saying that the group were "letting me go." On March 29, statements by Fazzi and Rubano announcing their departure from the group were posted on the band's website. Two days later, it was announced that former members guitarist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper had re-joined.

Critical response

New Again received generally favorable reviews from critics, according to review aggregation website Metacritic. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that, like their peers, Taking Back Sunday "gets increasingly poppy as their career winds on." He mentioned that their sound was "brighter and bigger in every regard." Writing for Alternative Press, Scott Heisel praised the record highly, stating that it "leaps forward as the best album of Taking Back Sunday's career to date." He also mentioned it featured "a darker, more menacing vibe." Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said the group "branch[ed] out from its emo roots," sounding "focused" delving into "complex melodies and thematic ideas." Lipshutz said that Lazzara's growth as a songwriter made the album "a brisk, enjoyable outing."

In a review for Entertainment Weekly, author Andy Greenwald said the group were able to "reinvent themselves as mainstreamo shredders" with New Again. Melodic reviewer Tom Spinelli noted that the "more straight forward ... sound" the group were going for could push them "into a more mainstream audience." He mentioned that while a lot of the songs have "a more radio sound on them," it's not done in a "cheesy way." Jon Pareles of The New York Times mentioned Kahne's production as giving the band "a little more gloss." Pareles noted several homages to U2: the guitar work in "New Again" and "Catholic Knees," the keyboard into to "Where My Mouth Is," as well as Lazzara's "vocal delivery, full of Bono’s breathy gulps and open-throated crescendos."

PopMatters' Matthew Niner praised Lazzara's voice, calling him "an incredibly versatile vocalist." Niner wrote that the group created "another solid album that cements their reputation as one of the most genuinely affecting and consistent bands in the current scene." Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone wrote that while a "arena-ready polish" features throughout the album, it doesn't help the "forced melodrama," in songs such as "Lonely, Lonely." Spin reviewer David Bevan wrote that album "focuses on roaring arenas as much as on two-timing lovers. " He said Lazzara's vocals sounded "more sore- than full-throated, but they still freeze blood for short stretches." Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic wrote that New Again "places less emphasis on catchy parts and more focused on entire songs."

Commercial performance and legacy

New Again debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200, selling 48,000 copies in its first week in the United States. The album reached number 2 on the Alternative Albums chart, number 5 on both the Digital Albums and Top Rock Albums charts and number 6 on the Tastemaker Albums chart. The album also charted at number 16 on the Canadian Albums Chart, number 31 on the Australian Albums Chart and number 46 on the UK Albums Chart. "Sink into Me" peaked at number 10 on the Alternative Songs chart and number 32 on the Hot Rock Songs chart.

Alternative Press' ranked it as their album of the year. Fuse.tv's Jason Lipshutz called New Again his least-favorite Taking Back Sunday album. Lipshutz said that there was "moments worth revisiting" on the album, but it was "clearly a transitional outing," attempting to build on the success of Louder Now. In a retrospective piece, Scott Heisel of Alternative Press said Fazzi helped bring "jazz, off-kilter riffs" and "lush textures" to the band, while mentioning the remainder of the group providing the "most aggressive songs to date in “Lonely, Lonely” and “Swing”."

Aside from the occasional appearance of "Everything Must Go," no songs from the album have been played live since 2010. In the same year, Lazzara answered questions on his Formspring account, commenting that New Again "was a gigantic step backwards" and that he was "not fully satisfied with what we put out." In 2012, Reyes said he didn't like how we had to constantly change producers and the songwriting didn’t turn out originally as it was, it just kind of bummed us out a bit." Discussing New Again in 2016, Rubano called the period "the golden time where I was like ‘oh, we’re doing music, that we all really like, that we can’t wait to get out’ and things were going pretty good for a little while." However, when the album was released, the "critics seemed to like it, but it didn’t really hit [with the public], and then when we started the touring cycle for it there was a very decisive mood turn in a band that already was insanely moody all the time." The album is set to be pressed on vinyl in April 2017.

Track listing

All songs written by Taking Back Sunday.

Personnel

Personnel per sleeve.