Brand New is back with brand new music, and after six years without so much as a peep, the alt-rockers are crunchier with more raw punk in them than ever before. Today (April 13), ahead of the release of its highly anticipated fifth studio album Brand New dropped the roaring "Mene" alongside a new website and music video.
Clocking in at a punchy two minutes, 33 seconds, "Mene" shows off the thrashiest side of Brand New. The guitars cut above all other noise, while a rolling bassline comes in beneath Jesse Lacey's half-spoken, half-sung vocals, carrying the song along in a blow of intensity.
The song retains the raw emotions that always helped Brand New connect to its audience, with the chorus resonating with a repeated lyric of "We don't feel anything." In the hands of a lot of bands, this would all sound terribly cliché, but for Brand New, it's a further ushering in of what Brand New has always done best: connect with the disenfranchised.
"Mene" arrived with a fittingly chaotic music video, which incorporates old live footage of the band with old school '90s video effects and a tagline with a Kit 'N' Kaboodle commercial on the end.
The release of "Mene" comes ahead of Brand New's expected fifth studio album, reportedly due out sometime in 2015, Consequence of Sound reports. Brand New's last album Daisy dropped in 2009, and in anticipation of the new record, the band has re-launched its new website and will be appearing at a handful of live venues over the next month with Circa Survive.
