American Football Go From Boys To Men On ‘Bad Moons’

The first taste of music from American Football’s fourth self-titled album (and third since reuniting in 2014) has finally arrived in the form of the eight-minute track “Bad Moons,” a Alex Acy-and Rémi Belleville-directed video for which is out now. LP4 will be available May 1 on Polyvinyl.

As for “Bad Moons,” its blends two separately written songs into a gripping rumination on aging and responsibility, with frontman Mike Kinsella describing it as “a Frankenstein of two different demos we’d been passing around for quite a while: one playful, with children playing and toy-pianos plinking; one brooding, with guitars screeching and drums bombasting. I had already been singing the ‘(…) in the dark’ mantra over the latter, so the biggest challenge for me was thematically bridging the innocence and buoyancy of the first act with the deep despair of the second.”

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“I decided to begin the song as a child. Or, rather… two,” he continues. “Stacked up in a single trench coat; secretly, reluctantly living the life of a grown man, accruing all of his missteps and guilt along the way. By the end, these missteps are almost spilling out of the boys. A cathartic confession, hopefully at least somewhat relatable to anyone listening who’s ever lived a life.”

LP4 was produced by Sonny DiPerri, with whom Mike Kinsella and American Football bandmate/cousin Nate Kinsella earlier worked on their 2023 synth-leaning side project, LIES. It is said to be American Football’s “most sonically ambitious album to date, layered, dissonant, occasionally confrontational and always deeply felt.”

Says Acy of the “Bad Moons” video, “I think part of growing up is realizing you can only become more empathetic with others once you become empathetic with yourself. I think boys often have a harder time grasping this, which leads to a lot of dumb and regrettable actions. Rémi and I grew up together and felt like we could connect around this concept from a shared and honest point of view. Quebec, where we grew up, and the Midwest feel very similar in a lot of ways. It only felt right to anchor the video in rural Canada.”

The influential Midwestern band will support LP4 with an extensive 2026 world tour, which begins May 15 in Denver and wraps up Aug. 16 in Minneapolis. 

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