The Academy Is… has announced their return with Almost There, their first new album in nearly two decades.
As revealed by Rolling Stone this week, the beloved pop-punk outfit will release the record on March 27th via I Surrender Records, marking their first studio effort since 2008’s Fast Times at Barrington High.
The album title serves as a deliberate callback to the band’s influential 2005 debut, Almost Here.
“Our debut album, Almost Here, felt like a promise that if we just kept moving, we’d arrive somewhere permanent,” singer William Beckett said. “Twenty years later, Almost There reflects on the truth that you’re never really done becoming who you are.”
Guitarist Mike Carden continued: “William and I made the first record at nineteen and walked away at 28. Almost There is really about everything that’s happened in the space between.”
The band has released “2005” as the lead single from Almost There, a nostalgic track that perfectly encapsulates their reflective approach to this reunion. Check out the official music video below.
After splitting in 2011, The Academy Is… reunited in 2015 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Almost Here, performing scattered reunion shows over the following years. Last year’s Almost Here 20th anniversary tour proved particularly successful, with the band selling out their initial leg before adding additional dates.
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“We want to write from where we actually are now,” Carden said. “Our audience is growing with us. They’re dealing with the same real-life changes, the same celebrations, the same setbacks.”
Beckett added: “Almost Here was about leaving home. This album is about finding your way back. It’s the other end of the spectrum.”
The Academy Is… will support Almost There with headline shows throughout the US beginning in April.
