Alternative rock icons THE EARLY NOVEMBER are treating fans to another song from their forthcoming album, Lilac. Ave Maria can be heard now, alongside a brand new video. Lilac, the band’s highly anticipated 5th studio album, is set to be released on September 27th via Rise Records. The Early November’s first album since 2015’s Imbue, Lilac represents a shift towards a more pop-centric sound while preserving the raw vulnerability that the band has become known for. Pre-orders are available now.
The band shares: “It’s about being told things are impossible. Often times people will tell you things aren’t realistic and not to try because of some inadequacies they feel. This song is about ignoring all of that and pushing on. Reaching the goal isn’t the point but going for it is”.
Produced by Enders at his own LumberYard Recording Studio, Lilac channels a heavy-hearted determination in its chiming guitars, kinetic rhythms, and complex yet indelible melodies. As Enders reveals, the album’s eclectic sonic palette and inventive arrangements have much to do with an intentional shift in songcraft.
“A lot of the songs came from avoiding that comfort zone of a very sad guitar line, and going to a completely different instrument—like starting with strings or piano or sometimes a beat,” he says. “I tend to hang on to those very droney tones, so rethinking the way songs could be put together made everything pop a little bit more.”
Throughout Lilac, The Early November match their emotional outpouring with rigorous self-examination, a dynamic embodied on the confessional but cathartic Hit By A Car (In Euphoria). “That song is like a journey of me realizing how good I am at hiding my inner demons, and then feeling sort of crazy for a while, and then finally telling myself to just stop complaining,” Enders explains. On I Dissolve, the band captures an existential frustration, threading the defiantly soaring track with some brutally self-aware reflection. One of the most poignant moments on the album, Ave Maria builds a brilliant tension between its bright textures and lyrics speaking to a weary perseverance. And on The Lilac, The Early November close out with a hushed folk reverie, their lilting harmonies and lush string arrangement cutting through a mood of fragile desperation.
Despite often pushing into troubled emotional terrain, Lilac ultimately conveys a restless idealism, a message made all the more impactful by The Early November’s unapologetic honesty. “The thing I’d love for people to take away from this record is that it’s okay to go through dark times, but don’t get too hung up on them—don’t let the dark times end you,” says Enders. “This album started out dwelling too much on that darkness, but hopefully now it can bring a little bit of light to anyone who needs it”.
THE EARLY NOVEMBER are hitting the road in less than a month with the great HAVE MERCY & OWEL. All tickets are on sale now.
Lyrics:
Didn’t give up at fourteen
When everybody said it was just like the dream they had.
See this is how it goes, it’s in and out flows.
There’s no sun that ever lasts.
So come on now, let’s wake up.
See what you want.
Everyone already has.
Didn’t give up in eighteen when everybody said it was just like the dream they had.Waking up in the sun sandpaper tongue, red stripe across my back.
Hearing your voice sing like a choir.
“What am I looking at”.Ave Maria,
It’s the last time that I try to catch you.
I thought if I looked nice than I would feel nice and you would see me right. You would see me right,But it was a old lie, it was a cold lie.
It was a long night.
A long night.I don’t wear a coat on cold days.
Train to Rahway.
Running down adderall.
Writing the line of my life.
It’s finally gonna go right and I can justify it all.
But come on, now let’s wake up because it’s never enough, you’re always gonna hear me wrong.Didn’t give up in 18, when everybody said it’s just like the dream they had.
Ave Maria,
It’s the last time that I try to catch you.
I thought if I looked nice than I would feel nice and you would see me right. You would see me right,But it was a old lie, it was a cold lie.
It was a long night.
A long night.I’m throwing out a Hail Mary.
It’s gotta get to you, Time is ticking away.
