Since reuniting in 2016, Thursday have always said they’d only release new music if it truly added to the catalog, the way bands like Portishead and My Bloody Valentine operate. Since then, Thursday have continued to remain an active touring band while any and all new music was relegated to their offshoot bands — their rhythm section of Tim Payne and Tucker Rule have kept the early 2000s-style post-hardcore fire alive with L.S. Dunes, while Geoff Rickly further explored his atmospheric side with No Devotion. And now, Thursday have finally written a song together for the first time since 2011’s No Devolución that they’re ready to add to the catalog. “New music will only come if we feel it’s truly inspired and adds a new dimension to the band,” they said in 2017, and “Application For Release From the Dream” absolutely does that.
In addition to being Thursday’s first new song in over a decade, it’s also their first self-released music in 25 years, and it comes with a statement saying that they’re “free to turn this band into whatever we dream it to be, whether we want to make it a collective of rotating members, a small cottage industry, a publishing house, a record label, or just a group of friends still having fun together after all these years.” On “Application For Release From the Dream,” it’s their first time releasing a song recorded with touring guitarist (and journalist) Norman Brannon of Texas Is The Reason. Geoff, Tim, Tucker, and guitarist Steve Pedulla round out the band’s lineup, and the song was produced by Thursday’s current touring bassist (and Geoff’s No Devotion bandmate/producer) Stu Richardson.
The pressure is always on when you’re putting out music for the first time in over a decade, especially when you’ve set the bar as high as Thursday did, and “Application For Release From the Dream” feels like the perfect way to ease fans back in to the idea of new Thursday. The more atmospheric, art rock-leaning No Devolución found Thursday saying goodbye on a creative high note that marked a clear evolution from their early 2000s post-hardcore classics, and “Application For Release From the Dream” continues that same forward momentum that Thursday left off on 13 years ago. It’s largely in that same soaring, atmospheric realm, doubling down on the band’s evolution and never trying to capitalize on the nostalgia for when we were young. But then it’s also got a full-on screamo bridge that reminds you that this band came up playing basements, listening to stuff like Saetia and Portraits of Past before becoming MTV mainstays. In this one song alone, they capture both bookends of their initial 13-year run, and they take a step forward in the process. It sounds unmistakably Thursday, but it’s also unlike any song they’ve ever written.
Geoff told Variety while promoting his book Someone Who Isn’t Me last year that, if Thursday does write new music, he doesn’t want to come off like “an older guy pretending he’s still got the same amount of vulnerable pain and heartbreak that he did when he was a kid,” and on “Application,” he avoids those pitfalls entirely. “What is life? A spark. What is death? A moment.,” he muses, grappling with larger-than-life concepts in a way that sounds as true to Geoff’s current self as “I don’t want to feel this way forever” sounded 23 years ago. It truly does add a new dimension to the band, on multiple levels.
Geoff spoke about how the new song came together in a new interview with Vulture:
In 2019, we started writing and it was really contentious. We were tossing demos back and forth, and nothing was happening. We let them sit for a while. With the last one, everyone was like, “This one has an amazing chorus. How can you not like that?” And I was like, “I just feel like it’s too much the same thing over and over again.” Stu Richardson, who plays bass for us on tour and is an amazing producer, was like, “That’s an easy fix.” Stu slowed down the beginning, took out the drums, and added some keyboards and then I sang a totally different thing over it, and it was like, “Oh! Suddenly I love this song!”
The funny thing is, I don’t know what will come next from us, but now that the Band-Aid is off, it feels a lot easier to write together. Since we got back together eight years ago, this is the biggest the band’s been. Every night we’re going out and the audience makeup is tilting toward younger fans instead of people that have been with us the whole time.
And, when asked if Thursday have a new album coming, he said:
When it comes to this band — and probably when it comes to me, if I’m being honest — a hard “no” is always a possible “yes.” [Laughs.] That’s just the kind of person that I am. I feel very strongly about things until something changes my mind. Right now the idea is “We did a split, maybe we’ll do a song for a compilation. Maybe we’ll do a cover. Maybe we’ll do a split seven-inch with a young band that we love.” That reminds me of how we started the band: We were playing basement shows, we didn’t want to ever do a record. Then for years we battled to get in and out of contracts with different labels, and I love not having that right now. It’s beautiful.
Listen to “Application For Release From the Dream” below. Find all upcoming Thursday tour dates here.
