Rain City Drive has just released their highly anticipated album, Things Are Different Now. This is technically Rain City Drives’ second album following 2022’s self-titled album, though they released their first album with Matt McAndrew, To Better Days, while they were still under the “Slaves” name before their rebrand. The album navigates through loss and heartbreak touching on the seven stages of grief, whether it’s the loss of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, or loss of any sort. Things Are Different Now sees the band taking another step outside the box and continuing to push genre boundaries.
With the release of the album today, Rain City Drive also dropped a music video for “Wish You The Best”. The song dives more into being in a toxic relationship. “We watered the flowers with gasoline / Now everything’s dying in front of me.” When you're pouring everything into a relationship, hoping to make it grow, but realize what you're pouring in isn’t going anywhere, and actually damaging what you created in the first place. “Concrete Closure” speaks more about the feeling or acceptance that a relationship has met its end and it’s time for closure. “You say you're looking for some concrete closure / But you’re the one who keeps the door wide open / to emotions underneath / Cemented here with me”. It’s this inevitable feeling that you’re gonna go down but you keep going in circles. You know it’s over but you’re just prolonging it.
Rain City Drive really blew up recently, especially with “Medicate Me,” which features Rory Rodriguez from Dayseeker. They gained almost 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify in the first month of its release. The song is also currently sitting at 15 million streams on Spotify. Lead vocalist, Matt McAndrew says about the track, “Medicate Me” is about chasing the high of a toxic relationship to escape boredom/complacency.”
I’ve never had a song hit quite so close to home before as "Neverbloom" does. Speaking on the song, Matt said, "I wrote "Neverbloom" about my dad who passed away when I was 24. I find myself thinking how I wish he could see the things I’ve accomplished and the man that I’ve become. It’s about learning to live with the reality that he only got to see the beginning of my journey, the seeds I planted, but won’t see my flowers bloom." I lost my grandfather, who was my father figure growing up, at a young age, too. It’s not just the physical loss of your person, but the loss of the validations and support system they gave you. Or when something crazy happened or you achieved something and all you wanna do is pick up the phone and tell that person, but you can’t. These are things that I’ve struggled with since my grandfather passed, and I have never been able to find the words to express them. “Neverbloom” found the words to those feelings.
The closing track “Sacrifice” begins with a soft piano that creates an ominous build. As the closing track, I think it’s perfect. The song feels like the initial feeling of a breakup or a loss. The shocking, numb feeling you feel at first, and then goes into this outburst of all the emotions felt. I think it's a great album closer that encapsulates the overall feeling of the album into one track.
In support of the album, Rain City Drive also kicked off their headlining tour last night in Atlanta. This tour runs through the end of October and is being supported by Belmont, Until I Wake, Siamese, and Nightlife! Tickets are selling out fast so be sure to get them and be some of the first to hear these new songs live!
Things Are Different Now tour dates:
9/26 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
9/27 – Nashville, TN – Eastside Bowl
9/28 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
9/29 – St Louis, MO – Old Rock House
10/1 – Detroit, MI – The Loving Touch
10/2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird
10/4 – Brooklyn, NY – Racket
10/5 – Worcester, MA – Palladium
10/6 – Philadelphia, PA – Foundry
10/7 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
10/9 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club
10/10 – Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819
10/11 – Orlando, FL – The Social
10/12 – Tampa, FL – Orpheum
10/15 – Dallas, TX – RBC
10/16 – Houston, TX – WHL Midtown
10/17 – San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box
10/19 – Mesa, AZ – The Underground
10/22 – San Diego, CA – Soma Sidestage
10/23 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy
10/24 – Sacramento, CA – Goldfield Roseville
10/25 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
10/26 – Seattle, WA – Substation
10/28 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
10/29 – Denver, CO – Marquis
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