American pop-punk band Relient K have announced the follow-up to their 2004 album, Mhmm. After four albums and seven years, they are on the verge of releasing their fifth, called Five Score and Seven Years Ago, a play on both Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the age of the band itself.
This reference to Lincoln goes beyond the title of the album, though. While known for their rather confessional songs, Relient K's new album includes two tracks that bookend the album - "Plead the Fifth" and "Deathbed," which take the reference further. According to the band, the lyrical content of these two songs revolve around a 19th century man with an intriguing conspiracy theory about Abraham Lincoln and an aging cancer patient.
The fifth album is primarily produced by Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, P.O.D.), though three of the tracks are produced by the band's longtime producer Mark Townsend, who has until now produced all of Relient K's material. Lead guitarist Mark Hoopes acknowledged “I was honestly pretty nervous. We’d never really worked with any other producer beside Mark Townsend – he did everything from our first demo, all the way up to the last album. But it was a good experience working with Howard.”
Across the last two albums - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do and Mhmm - there has been a distinct departure from the upbeat, pun-filled comedic songs that they became famous for, and the fifth album continues that departure. However, what humour there is on the album takes a turn towards a darker side. "Deathbed" is reportedly an eleven-minute epic that recounts the last moments of a cancer patient, and the ironies involved. The track will also feature guest vocalist, Jon Foreman, frontman for Switchfoot.
The album is scheduled for release on March 6th, 2007, with the first single to be "Must Have Done Something Right," to be released sometime during January. The track list is as follows:
1. Plead the Fifth
2. Come Right Out and Say It
3. I Need You
4. The Best Thing
5. Forgiven
6. Must Have Done Something Right
7. Give
8. Devastation And Reform
9. I’m Taking You With Me
10. Faking My Own Suicide
11. Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care
12. Bite My Tongue
13. Up And Up
14. Deathbed
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
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2 - G-Off
That's MATT Hoopes, not Mark.
3 - MIC
BEST SONG!!!!!14. Deathbed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 - kCar
They may not say "Jesus" nearly as much as they have in the past but most of their new songs clearly show their humility and love of Christ. It's great to see their upcoming fame though. Their song "Be My Escape" was clearly talking about Jesus yet it was played on MTV. I'm afraid that people think they're singing about some girl or whatever. blah