Science Fiction

Whether whispering or screaming, bashing it out or barely holding it in, the enigmatic Long Island band Brand New have always been driven by a certain intensity, the sense that things are either exploding or just about to. Their first album after a seven-year break expands on the eclectic hybrids of 2009’s <i>Daisy</i> and 2006’s cult classic <i>The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me</i>, shifting between moody, atmospheric meditations (“Lit Me Up”) and roadhouse gospel (“451”), post-hardcore tantrums (“Same Logic / Teeth”) and fingerpicked ballads (“Could Never Be Heaven”)—all with lyrical imagery that elevates the internal struggle to biblical heights.