As Cities Burn Return With New Single, '2020 AD'

As Cities Burn, still burning strong with '2020 AD'.

As Cities Burn are a "will they, won't they" kind of band. For fans, it can be a frustrating relationship. But the American group is leaning harder into activity and action rather than lying dormant as they now begin lining up new tour dates, ink a new label partnership, and even release new material. In that regard, '2020 AD' helps to celebrate the re-ignited group's newfound partnership with Equal Vision Records as well as the return of original members to their lineup, placing both of the Bonnette bros on vocals once again; Cody doing the clean vocals and TJ providing the screams. Ah, the good ol' days.

As Cities Burn have had a few new tracks over the last couple of years, namely 'Prince of Planet Earth' and ' Goldmine'. Yet this latest single indeed feels different. '2020 AD' twists and turns as a darker, weirder, and more urgent take on the band's alternative/post-hardcore sound of late; with some interesting panning and vocal production, as well as a penchant for gloomier melodies. The song itself is a discussion on the never-ending bullshit of politics and the world today. Touching upon how far gone it's all become now; how much stranger than fiction it truly is; asking the listener if "...it's gotten out of hand yet" and imploring people to chose their own side and to stand by themselves in today's age.

I really do hate using the term "grower" when describing songs as it implies forced love through the act of listening attrition, but that's what this new As Cities Burn track is: a real grower, not a shower. This sure isn't the young lads who once wrote songs like 'Bloodsucker Pt.II'. And something tells me that we'll be seeing a full-length follow up to 2009's 'Hell or High Water' more than soon enough...