Taking Back Sunday released their new single “S’old” on September 6th via Fantasy/Concord. It arrived with the announcement that their eighth studio album 152, will drop on October 27th. Named for the section of road in North Carolina between Highpoint, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh where the band and their friends would meet up as teenagers. 152 is the band’s first full-length offering since 2016’s Tidal Wave. 

Commenting on their new album 152, Taking Back Sunday stated: “152 offers a lot more hope and light than we first realized when we were in the thick of it, putting it all together. We’ve been fortunate enough, through our music, to grow up with a lot of people going through the same things at the same time, and probably feeling the same way. Our hope is that you’re able to find a little bit of yourself in this new collection of songs, because you’re not alone, and neither are we.”

Produced by Tushar Apte (whom the band met through a mutual collaboration with DJ Steve Aoki) and mixed by Neal Avron (twenty one pilots, Bleachers), the long-awaited album LP features 10 intensely vulnerable and absorbing new tracks all delivered with fresh ambition and newfound purpose. Inspired by the long layoff and the cloud of uncertainty that blanketed the world (and music industry) these past few years, 152 stands among the most genuinely reflective and emotionally pure efforts of Taking Back Sunday’s illustrious career.

Originally from Long Island, NY, the 4-piece consists of John Nolan (lead guitar, piano, vocals), Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), Shaun Cooper (bass) and Mark O’Connell (drums). You would think after 20 years, we knew what each other is going to do,” said Lazzara. “But there were so many times making this record where I heard the initial idea and thought I knew where it would go, but then I was super surprised. It’s those kinds of surprises that make it so exciting. That’s why we all still want it so badly.”

Added O’Connell: ”When we’re writing songs, the one thing we ask ourselves, ‘Is it capable of making people feel something?’ You try to make people feel emotion. That’s the one goal we went in with, and we think we did it.”

Taking Back Sunday continually challenged one another, exploring musical ideas in new and exciting ways. So many of these tracks dig deep and connect on a gut level. The lead single “S’old” struggles with the obligations of adult responsibility and acceptance.