Recommended Tracks: “Wish You The Best,” “Over Me,” “Aware”
Artist You Might Like: Bring Me the Horizon, Caskets, Fall Out Boy
Navigating the lasting affects a relationship can have is a very individualistic experience in its healing journey. You have to go through the 7 stages of grief seemingly to eventually come to terms with the end of a chapter and wish them well. The emotional fall out can be intense as you’re trying to understand having love, anger, passion, loss, denial and acceptance all coexist. Rain City Drive navigates that difficulty and all the hardships that it comes with in their third album Things Are Different Now released today Sept. 27 through Thriller Records.
The band has now released their second album together since rebranding as Rain City Drive from from former name “Slaves.” Though their second album as Rain City Drive and currently comprised of Matt McAndrews, Felipe Sanchez, Colin Viera, Weston Richmond and Zack Baker, Things Are Different Now is their third album with lead vocalist Matt McAndrew. Things Are Different Now proceeds their self titled album Rain City Drive released in 2022 and To Better Days in 2020 (released under Slaves).
“Concrete Closure,” the latest single to be released before the album was set to release, following the release of “Medicate Me” with Rory Rodriguez (Dayseeker), “Frozen,” “Over Me,” “Neverbloom” and “Frozen.”
Kicking off the album, “Lose My Composure” sets the stage for what is to come. “Keep your friends close / and your enemies closer,” exploring emotional struggle and loss, a tone that is repeated often in the album. This track is followed by “Wish You The Best,” a more upbeat track with lyrics that still dig into an emotional struggle of a toxic relationship. While McAndrew shouts lyrics “You watered flowers with gasoline / now everything’s dying in front of me / I fell in the fire / I love you but I’ll never say, so,” we see the pain inflicted, yet paradoxically, the attachment that still lives within.
“Concrete Closure” shows the feelings of understanding that a relationship has run its course and needs closure, something that is sometimes hard to give or get. “You say your looking for some concrete closure / But you’re the one who keeps the door wide open / to emotions underneath / Cemented here with me”. A sound that merges the traditional alt-rock sound with more progressive pop goes to show the solidifying sound Rain City Drive has come to find over the last two years.
“Over Me” carries a clear difference in sound to the rest of the album. This song is more in tune with commercial radio-rock but nonetheless stays true to the sound Rain City Drive fans know and love within the genre.
Touching on the heavier side of loss, “Neverbloom” written about McAndrew’s dad who passed when he was 24, carries a slower tone to start out, but is still beautifully tied to the heavier rock sound the overall album portrays. “I wrote ‘Neverbloom’ about my dad who passed when I was 24. I find myself thinking how I wish he could see the things I’ve accomplished and the man that I’ve become. It’s about learning to live with the reality that he only got to see the beginning of my journey, the seeds I planted, but won’t see my flowers bloom.”
This album is also being joined with the bands first ever headline Things Are Different Now US Tour around the US with 25 shows within 19 states. They kicked off the tour the night before the album is was set to release on Sept. 26 in Atlanta, GA. They’re being supported by Until I Wake, Siamese, and Nightlife. Tickets are still available for select cities.
Rain City Drive Tour Dates:
9/26 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
9/27 – Nashville, TN – Eastside Bowl
9/28 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
9/29 – St Louis, MO – Old Rock House
10/1 – Detroit, MI – The Loving Touch
10/2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird
10/4 – Brooklyn, NY – Racket
10/5 – Worcester, MA – Palladium
10/6 – Philadelphia, PA – Foundry
10/7 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
10/9 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
10/10 – Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819
10/11 – Orlando, FL – The Social
10/12 – Tampa, FL – Orpheum
10/15 – Dallas, TX – RBC
10/16 – Houston, TX – WHL Midtown
10/17 – San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box
10/19 – Mesa, AZ – The Underground
10/22 – San Diego, CA – Soma Sidestage
10/23 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy
10/24 – Sacramento, CA – Goldfield Roseville
10/25 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
10/26 – Seattle, WA – Substation
10/28 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
10/29 – Denver, CO – Marquis
https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/0p4oA5o0yoyAxo6aN68Qaz?si=7c41380fa42842fd
