Black Lines

Mayday Parade released their fourth album, Monsters in the Closet in October 2013.^[1] While touring in support of that release, vocalist Derek Sanders thought the group was "beginning to become too predictable",^[2] and in an interview with Kerrang!, he claimed that Monsters in the Closest sounded "very similar" to their past material.^[2] This view was also expressed by the band's guitarist, Alex Garcia.^[3] For the follow-up album, Sanders "really wanted [it] to feel like something different."^[2] A turning point for the band came when they recorded a cover of the Bush song "Comedown" for the Punk Goes 90s Vol. 2 (2014) compilation album.^[2] The band tackled the song differently from their other recordings, recording it live-in-the-studio.^[2] Sanders thought this was "a much rawer way of recording" that the band haven't previously done.^[2]

While the group, according to Garcia, "experiment[ed] with co-writers" in the past, they wanted to "become more internal",^[3] writing all of the songs on Black Lines by themselves.^[4] Kerrang! writer Paul Travers noted that while the band's past works were collections of pop rock songs, Black Lines had "a rawer, grittier sound with a more dynamic approach" to song structures.^[2] The album's sound has been described as emo,^[5] emo pop,^[6] pop punk^[7] and rock.^[8] "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" features guest vocals from Real Friends' vocalist Dan Lambton.^[9] "Letting Go" is about "self pity and not having the strength to get over a bad relationship. It's about that weird spot when someone breaks you down even though you know they're toxic."^[10]

In March 2015, the band started recording^[11] at Dreamland Recording Studios near Woodstock, New York with producer Mike Sapone.^[4] The studio was in fact a converted church.^[3] Guitarist Brooks Betts used his Fender Telecaster guitar, which has been used on all of the band's albums, while Garcia used his Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster guitars.^[3] The pair used a Marshall JCM800 amplifier.^[3] The pair used a number of effects pedals and frequently "switch[ed] them out", according to Garcia.^[3] One of two specific pedals they used was the Supermoon Reverb, which Garica "absolute love[d]".^[3] The other being the Kilobyte, which was used to create a lot of the ambient sounds heard on "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" and "Hollow".^[3] Despite this, they wanted to "avoid cluttering the sound" as much as possible.^[3]

Lambton recorded his vocals for "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" while Real Friends had an off-day from touring.^[12] The initial plan for the song was to have Lambton and Sanders do call and response vocals throughout it.^[12] On May 21, it was announced the band had finished recording.^[13] All of the songs were mixed by Vince Ratti, except for "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing", which was mixed by Sapone.^[4] Claudius Mittendorfer and Sapone engineered the proceedings, with assistance from Zachary Casper and Bella Blasks.^[4] Stephen Marcussen mastered the album.^[4]

On July 17, 2015, Black Lines was announced for release, with the track listing and cover art revealed.^[14] The artwork was done by Wolfstache with art direction from Florian Mihr.^[4] On July 30,^[15] "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology" was made available for streaming.^[16] A video for the song features an artist re-creating the album's cover art.^[17] A day later, it was released as a single.^[18] On August 28, a music video was released for "One of Them Will Destroy the Other",^[19] directed by Caleb Mallery.^[20] On October 1, "Letting Go" was made available for streaming,^[21] and was released as single a day later.^[22] Black Lines was released on October 9 through Fearless.^{[23][nb 1]} In October and November, the band is set to headline the 2015 edition of the Alternative Press tour,^[17] with support from Real Friends, As It Is, and This Wild Life.^[25]

In January and February 2016, the band went on a tour of Europe and the UK,^[26] with support from the Maine, Have Mercy and Beautiful Bodies.^[27] In March and April, the band went on a co-headlining US tour with the Maine with support from Better Off^[28] and the Technicolours. On March 29, a music video was released for "Letting Go". In May, the group performed at Slam Dunk Festival in the UK.^[29] Before embarking on the 2016 Warped Tour,^[30] a music video was released for "Let's Be Honest" on June 24, directed by Dan Fusselman.^[31] In July, the group appeared at the Alternative Press Music Awards.^[32]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	8.5/10[33]
Alternative Addiction	[8]
Alternative Press	Favorable[34]
Contactmusic	3.5/5[35]
idobi	7/10[36]
theMusic	[5]
Ultimate Guitar Archive	7.3/10[7]

Close

Sam Law of Kerrang! wrote the album highlighted the band's "absolute best bits", specifically mentioning "Hollow", "Underneath the Tide" and "All on Me".^[37] Law pondered about "hit singles" before concluding the group does not need "them when your record's as good as this throughout."^[37] Writing for Rock Sound, Mischa Pearlman wrote the band showed off "their versatility [...] to varying degrees of success."^[6] In some songs, such as "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" and "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology", the group "cruise[d] comfortably [...] in full-on emo-pop mode."^[6] In others, namely "Hollow" and "All on Me", the band are "far more interesting and exciting."^[6] Overall, Pearlman closed with mention this "all makes for an ultimately uneven and unfocused journey, but one still worth investigating".^[6]

The album debuted at number 21 on the US Billboard 200.^[38] It also reached number one on the US Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. The album opened with first week sales of 16,000 copies.^[39] It also peaked at number 32 in Australia.^[40]

Personnel per back panel.^[4]