Afterburner (Dance Gavin Dance album)

Afterburner is the ninth full-length studio album by American rock band Dance Gavin Dance. Released on April 24, 2020, on Rise Records, the album serves as a follow-up the group's eighth studio album, Artificial Selection (2018). Recording sessions for the album took place over a five-month period between June and November 2019 with producer Kris Crummett at Interlace Audio in Portland, Oregon, while the vocals were recorded with producer Drew Fulk in Los Angeles, California. The album is considered a musical progression for the band, as the group experimented with funk, Latin, rap, and metalcore which accompany their archetypal post-hardcore and experimental rock style.

Afterburner
Studio album by
Dance Gavin Dance
ReleasedApril 24, 2020
RecordedJune–November 2, 2019[1]
StudioInterlace Audio, Portland, Oregon
Genre
Length48:38
LabelRise
Producer
Dance Gavin Dance chronology
Artificial Selection
(2018)		 Afterburner
(2020)		 Tree City Sessions 2
(2021)
Singles from Afterburner
  1. "Prisoner"
    Released: February 21, 2020
  2. "Strawberry's Wake"
    Released: March 12, 2020
  3. "Lyrics Lie"
    Released: April 9, 2020
  4. "Three Wishes"
    Released: April 16, 2020

In support of the album, the band released the lead single, "Prisoner", on February 21, 2020. The second single, "Strawberry's Wake", was released on March 12. Two more singles, "Lyrics Lie" and "Three Wishes", were released in April. The album debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200, with 24,000 copies sold in its first week. Originally, the group announced a 2020 spring tour in support of the album to take place in North America and Europe, yet this was postponed due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.[2] They will embark on the Afterburner Tour, scheduled to take place in March and April 2021 with support from Animals As Leaders, Issues, Veil of Maya and Wolf & Bear.[3]

Background

On June 8, 2018, Dance Gavin Dance released their eighth studio album Artificial Selection. The album was heavily supported by extensive touring, including two supporting runs with American rock band Underoath on their No Fix and Erase Me North American tours, a headlining spring 2018 tour, their 2019 headlining Artificial Selection Tour, and performances at SwanFest, Rock USA, the Vans Warped Tour 25th anniversary concert, Las Ragous, and Good Things Music Festival.[4][5][6][7]

On March 22, 2019, the band released "Head Hunter", a stand-alone single, accompanied with its music video.[8] Another single, "Blood Wolf", was released on October 11, along with its music video.[9] In October 2019, the band's vocalist Tilian Pearson confirmed that these two singles will not appear on the band's ninth studio album, nor are they indicative of the album's sound.[10]

On May 31, 2019, the band released an instrumental version of Artificial Selection.[11] They began a pattern of releasing an instrumental version of their studio albums on the last Friday of every month since, with Mothership, being released on June 28 and so forth, concluding with Downtown Battle Mountain on December 27, 2019.[12] On August 30, 2019, the band released a remastered version of their 2013 album Acceptance Speech, accompanied with the instrumental version.[13]

Recording

In January 2019, Dance Gavin Dance lead guitarist Will Swan revealed on Twitter that he was recording new material in Portland, Oregon, at Kris Crummett's recording studio, Interlace Audio.[14] In July 2019, Tilian Pearson revealed he was writing for the band's upcoming ninth studio album.[15] Crummett tracked guitar with Will Swan and Secret Band guitarist Martin Bianchini in September.[16][17]

In an October 2019 interview, drummer Matthew Mingus disclosed that the new album will be "very technical" and that fifteen songs were recorded.[18] In November, Pearson confirmed he had completed recording vocals for the album with record producer Drew Fulk in Los Angeles, California.[19] Mixing for the album was completed by Kris Crummett in December 2019.[20]

The album features a list of guest appearances, including Strawberry Girls guitarist Zachary Garren, Eidola vocalist and guitarist Andrew Wells, Veil of Maya guitarist Marc Okubo, Secret Band guitarist Martin Bianchini, Royal Coda guitarist Sergio Medina, and former Attack Attack! vocalist Johnny Franck (credited as his current band, Bilmuri). The album features two guest vocal appearances, including Wells appearing on "Lyrics Lie" and "Nothing Shameful" and Franck appearing on "Into the Sunset". Royal Coda drummer, and former A Lot Like Birds drummer, Joseph Arrington, is credited as a co-writer on "Prisoner".[21]

Musical style and composition

Afterburner has been labeled post-hardcore,[22] progressive rock,[22] pop rock,[22] funk,[22] Latin rock, metalcore, and emo rap.[23][24]

Artwork and album title

The album artwork for Afterburner was illustrated by Swedish illustrator and artist Mattias Adolfsson, who had previously created the artwork for every Dance Gavin Dance album since the band's debut studio album, Downtown Battle Mountain (2007). The album cover depicts a robot minotaur figure, named Gavin Afterburner,[25] in the center with creatures seemingly cowering around the figure whilst the environment around them is engulfed in flames. In an interview with Rock Sound, the band expressed that they had received the artwork prior to writing sessions so they could create a more cohesive album, similar to their past two studio albums.[26] A mural of the album cover was painted by Duce One on the side of the Flame Club in Sacramento, California in February 2020.[27] On March 18, 2020, Jon Mess shared the reference painting for the album cover art.[28]

The album's title "afterburner" itself has several different meanings and ideologies. An afterburn, the psychological term, is defined as the period of time before a past event is assimilated. The band's lore within their album covers tell a universal story which continues to be portrayed on this album's cover and is considered a continuation of the album cover for Artificial Selection.

Release

The band announced Afterburner, its track listing, album cover art and release date along with pre-order bundles on February 21, 2020. The album was released to digital download and streaming platforms on April 24, 2020, through Rise Records. Due to complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical editions of the album were postponed to July 10, 2020.[29] The Target special deluxe edition features a second disc containing an instrumental version of the album.

Singles

On February 21, 2020, Dance Gavin Dance released the album's lead single "Prisoner" accompanied with its music video.[30]

On March 12, "Strawberry's Wake" was released as the second single, along with its music video.[31]

On April 9, "Lyrics Lie" was released as the album's third single, along with a music video.[32] The track features uncredited background vocals from Eidola guitarist and vocalist Andrew Wells.[33] The video for the song is a time lapse of artist Duce One painting the mural of the album cover on the side of The Flame Club in Sacramento, California.[34][27]

On April 16, the fourth single, "Three Wishes", was released. The music video for "Three Wishes" features a montage of fan submitted videos of themselves being cleanly in abstract and creative ways.[35] The video also features members of the band.

On July 14, 2020, the group premiered an animated music video for the song "One In A Million".[36]

Tour

On June 29, 2020, the band announced the Afterburner Tour, scheduled to take place from March 11 to April 24, 2021, with support from Animals As Leaders, Issues, Veil of Maya, and Wolf & Bear.[37] Their second annual SwanFest was postponed to April 24, 2021 at Papa Murphy's Park in Sacramento, California.[38] Originally, the group had announced a spring tour that would span from March 12 to April 25, 2020, however was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[39] A string of tour dates in the US with Crown the Empire and Bilmuri,[40] Europe and the UK,[41] in May 2020 were also cancelled due to the pandemic.

The band performed a live concert on Twitch to promote the release of Afterburner on July 17, 2020.[42] On December 19, 2020, they broadcast Tree City Sessions 2, a fan-voted concert-streaming event that was filmed on the Tower Bridge in Sacramento, California in November 2020.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Discovered Magazine9/10[43]
Distorted Sound9/10[44]
Kill Your Stereo95/100[24]
New Transcendence8/10[45]
Wall of Sound9/10[46]

Afterburner was released to mostly positive reviews and critical acclaim. Alex Sievers of Kill Your Stereo wrote that the album is "intricate, catchy, emotional and deceptively complex" while being the band's most consistent album to date.[24] "It is simultaneously the most Dance Gavin Dance record that you could expect these days, whilst containing plenty of fresh ideas and different genre influences that tastefully boost their progressive post-hardcore sound with funk, rap, Latin, and pop vibes."[24] Wall of Sound gave a positive review of the album, saying what "they’ve delivered is an innovative album that sounds like classic DGD and yet not at all".[46] Andy Katz of Scene Daddy went so far as to say that "this is the best record of Dance Gavin Dance’s career".[47]

Afterburner was not without some criticism, even within positive reviews. Connor Welsh of New Transcendence wrote "while it might not have the replay value or nostalgic appeal some of their previous records have, Afterburner sees Dance Gavin Dance working cohesively—a creative unit with all cylinders firing—and creating a strong, solid—albeit safe—contribution to their airtight discography."[45]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jonathan Mess, Matthew Mingus, Tilian Pearson, Timothy Feerick, and William Swan (Dance Gavin Dance).

Afterburner track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Prisoner"3:46
2."Lyrics Lie"3:56
3."Calentamiento Global"3:58
4."Three Wishes"3:28
5."One in a Million"3:41
6."Parody Catharsis"3:41
7."Strawberry's Wake"3:37
8."Born to Fail"3:28
9."Parallels"3:36
10."Night Sway"2:52
11."Say Hi"3:51
12."Nothing Shameful" (featuring Andrew Wells)4:01
13."Into the Sunset" (featuring Bilmuri)4:30
Total length:48:38

Credits and personnel

Charts

References
  1. "'Outside the box': Dance Gavin Dance pushes boundaries with new album, graphic novel". WaYs-2-rOcK. March 13, 2020.
  2. Dance, Dance Gavin (March 12, 2020). "pic.twitter.com/HKBcrV8xnU".
  3. https://twitter.com/DGDtheband/status/1277708703752282112/photo/2
  4. "Underoath announce 2018 spring headlining tour with Dance Gavin Dance".
  5. "Dance Gavin Dance announce headlining tour on top of dates with Underoath".
  6. Darus, Alex (July 16, 2018). "Underoath announce tour with Dance Gavin Dance and the Plot In You".
  7. Campbell, Rachel (January 8, 2019). "Dance Gavin Dance announce 'Artificial Selection' tour dates".
  8. Darus, Alex (March 22, 2019). "Dance Gavin Dance drop Wild West-themed "Head Hunter" video".
  9. "Dance Gavin Dance Debut New Single "Blood Wolf," Reveal Plans For Swanfest 2020 / the NOISE". the NOISE.
  10. "In case you were wondering, Blood Wolf is not on the new album, it's the second half of the Head Hunter/Blood Wolf duo (the artwork for both singles form one piece). We are recording the new album now, to be released in 2020". October 10, 2019.
  11. Shoemaker, Whitney (May 31, 2019). "Dance Gavin Dance fully embrace instrumental album with adapted videos".
  12. "Downtown Battle Mountain (Instrumental) by Dance Gavin Dance" – via rateyourmusic.com.
  13. Sievers, Alex. "Dance Gavin Dance re-release 'Acceptance Speech', now sounds better". Killyourstereo.com.
  14. swan, will (January 22, 2019). "Back in Portland recording more stuff".
  15. "Did some new solo songs this week. DGD writing is cooking too! This is my favorite part of the job". July 6, 2019.
  16. "Kris Crummett on Instagram: "Just finished tracking guitars for DGD10". Instagram.
  17. bianchini, martin (September 14, 2019). "I hope I don't get in trouble for sharing some of the guitar tracking for the new #dgd10 anyhow, enjoy everybody".
  18. "Interview: Dance Gavin Dance". Spreaker.
  19. "Tilian". facebook.com.
  20. "I'm torn because I had just put the DGDX final mixes on a playlist for the first time and was gonna listen front to back and then @BilmuriTweets went a dropped a new album". December 17, 2019.
  21. News, DGD The (April 1, 2020). "Joe Arrington performing his original drum parts for "Prisoner" by @DGDtheband. He originally wrote drums for a Sianvar track with Sergio Medina and Will Swan before the demo was passed on to DGD where Matt Mingus wrote his original parts over it".
  22. metroweekly
  23. "DANCE GAVIN DANCE: Set to release ninth record AFTERBURNER, drop first single and trippy music video PRISONER". March 4, 2020.
  24. Sievers, Alex. "Album Review: Dance Gavin Dance - 'Afterburner' // Killyourstereo.com". Killyourstereo.com.
  25. Dance, Dance Gavin (April 6, 2020). "pic.twitter.com/rbc3pskD36".
  26. Sound, Rock (February 28, 2020). "Dance Gavin Dance tell us why they chose 'Afterburner' as the title of their new album".
  28. "Status". March 18, 2020.
  29. Dance, Dance Gavin (April 17, 2020). "We were feeling pressure to postpone Afterburner's release date, but we decided the fans deserved the album on 4/24 as promoted. The best way to support the band right now is to buy a digital copy on iTunes, Amazon Music, or GooglePlay. We appreciate you! -DGDpic.twitter.com/50xzb2i52T".
  30. Greenwood, Koltan (February 21, 2020). "Dance Gavin Dance detail 'Afterburner' album with groovy "Prisoner" video".
  31. Sievers, Alex. "'Strawberry's Wake': Dance Gavin Dance keep their long-running song series alive". Killyourstereo.com.
  32. Reitemeier, Mike (April 9, 2020). "Dance Gavin Dance release "Lyrics Lie", one of their best songs yet".
  33. ""Lyrics Lie" features @eidola on back up vocals on the final chorus and @marceatsfood on guitar". April 9, 2020.
  34. Records, Rise (April 9, 2020). ".@DGDtheband new single #LyricsLie is live!".
  35. "Dance Gavin Dance Let Their Fans Take Control With New Video 'Three Wishes'". Side Stage Magazine. April 16, 2020.
  36. https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/watch-dance-gavin-dances-new-animated-video-for-one-in-a-million/
  37. https://twitter.com/DGDtheband/status/1277708703752282112/photo/1
  38. http://www.papamurphyspark.com/event/dance-gavin-dance-presents-swanfest/#:~:text=Dance%20Gavin%20Dance%20Presents%20Swanfest%20%E2%80%93%20RESCHEDULED&text=Swanfest%20at%20Papa%20Murphy's%20Park,valid%20for%20the%20new%20date.
  39. "Dance Gavin Dance, Animals As Leaders, Issues & Veil of Maya spring tour postponed | NextMosh: Rock and Metal News".
  40. "Dance Gavin Dance & Crown The Empire Announce May Touring". Theprp.com. March 3, 2020.
  41. Smith-Engelhardt, Joe (February 6, 2020). "Dance Gavin Dance announce European headlining tour".
  42. http://www.sidestagemagazine.com/dance-gavin-dance-to-stream-special-pro-shot-multi-camera-album-release-show/
  43. https://discoveredmagazine.com/2020/04/under-review-dance-gavin-dance-afterburner/
  44. "ALBUM REVIEW: Afterburner - Dance Gavin Dance". April 26, 2020.
  45. Welsh, Connor (April 21, 2020). "REVIEW: Dance Gavin Dance – Afterburner [2020]".
  46. "Dance Gavin Dance – Afterburner (Album Review)". Wall Of Sound. April 22, 2020.
  47. "REVIEW: Dance Gavin Dance - 'Afterburner'". Scene Daddy.
  48. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 4 May 2020". No. 1574. Australian Recording Industry Association. May 4, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  49. "Chart Search: Dance Gavin Dance, Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  50. "Chart Search: Dance Gavin Dance, Top Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  51. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
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