Echoes in the dark: American Football return with expansive new track, ‘bad moons’

You can’t go anywhere within the emo scene without hearing about American Football. Formed in 1997, they captivated many fans in the scene at the time with their mix of jazz, math rock, and alternative music. Their debut album American Football, now known simply as LP1, revolutionized the emo genre in such a way and is considered to be an all time classic and must listen for anyone getting into the genre. After an over 15-year hiatus, they returned with their self-titled LP2 in 2016 and LP3 in 2019. Now, in 2026, we are being blessed with LP4.

American Football announced on February 18, via social media, that they would be releasing a new album on May 1. There wasn’t a single to accompany it or no sign of a single to come, but the hype was real amongst the fans and wider community.

​Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long for that debut single. Only a week after the initial announcement, on February 25, we got our first look at this endeavour from the band through the lead single “Bad Moons.”

​For those who listened to LP3, “Bad Moons” feels like the perfect continuation of the band’s sound. The track opens with a soundscape that ushers in a smooth bassline that carries throughout most of the song. Lead singer, Mike Kinsella’s, voice cuts in singing lyrics that tackle the concept of not wanting to grow up with Kinsella singing “I’m just two little boys in a trenchcoat.” As the song continues, so does the beautiful soundscape that is nothing short of ethereal to listen to. You can hear the layers that the band puts into but still find a new one on a new listen, which rewards multiple hearings.

​With each verse, there’s something new to be added to the instrumentation of the track, giving an extremely orchestral feeling to it. As mentioned, this feels like an evolution of the last record, LP3, which had multiple songs crossing over the 5-minute mark and providing similar soundscapes like this one. Even with “Bad Moons” clocking in just a little over 8 minutes, the song doesn’t come across that long due to its evolving nature. The lyrics in the song conclude a few minutes before the song actually ends, but they provide a beautiful message, Kinsella singing about how many terrible things happened in the dark. Also, good things, like love, can be found in the dark. It’s something that is simple, but its execution is supreme. All this while you hear the swelling of the instrumentals in the background until they all cut off once the lyric “Until I found you in the dark” hits.

Once the lyrics conclude, the song breaks into an emo shoegaze instrumental that is the perfect culmination to this song. On first listen, I was floored by the beauty of the instrumentals and how they exploded in that very moment. This goes on for a few minutes before the song eventually dies back down with sounds of children playing and talking in the background. The usage of peak and valley with this section, heck, even the whole song, makes it such a wonder to listen to. As the track winds down, you hear a modified version of the bassline that was also featured at the beginning of the song, tying everything together in a nice, neat bow.

As a lead single, this song gets me excited to see what American Football has to offer when it comes to LP4. LP3 saw an evolution of the band’s sound, and while “Bad Moons” feels like a continuation of that, it will be interesting to see if the band will evolve further. Overall, knowing that American Football has a new album coming out is something worth getting giddy over. May  1 can’t come any sooner.