THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Written over the course of three years, Neon Trees’ fifth album Sink Your Teeth offers an opportunity for longtime fans to return and for new fans to discover the band — proverbially sinking their teeth into the music.
It also evokes a sense of bite and rawness in the music and lyrics that is compellingly relatable. For singer-keyboardist Tyler Glenn, the songs reflect a state of mind felt by many in a post pandemic, chronically online digital age, where the uneasiness and anxiety of modern love and modern life are more potent than ever. Like all of Neon Trees’ work, the album reveals a balance between the dark and the light.
“The question was, how do I capture that energy and that feeling of anxiety, but not make it solely about a period of time in our lives or make people only reflect on that when they listen?” Glenn says. “The songs do contain some of the anxiety and existential crisis I was feeling at the start of the decade, but there’s also a thread of hope. It’s not wrapped neatly in a bow at the end, but there’s still a hopefulness.”
The single Bad Dreams is an energetic electro-rock single “about escapism and the idea that in your head, or in the fantasy, you can be (or be with) anyone, you can do anything and go anywhere,” says Glenn. “Growing up closeted and not coming out til I was 30, I often felt like my only outlet sexually or romantically was in my head. I wanted to capture the sensation of carnal desire, the weirdness and sometimes absurdity of dreams, and how submitting to the ‘bad’ can sometimes feel oh so good, especially when it’s only ‘just a dream.’ ”
Neon Trees began a rapid ascent from the Provo alt-indie scene to the forefront of popular culture fueled by their debut album Habits. Its lead single Animal scored a double-platinum certification and took home Top Alternative Song at the Billboard Music Awards. Success continued for the band with their sophomore album Picture Show and its hit single, the five-times platinum Everybody Talks. The subsequent release Pop Psychology bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums Chart and produced another hit, Sleeping With A Friend. In 2020, Neon Trees returned with their fourth studio album I Can Feel You Forgetting Me, featuring the single Used to Like, which landed at No. 1 on the alternative chart.”
