Irish purveyors of hook-heavy indie-rock scorchers The Academic are excited to share the ‘Community Spirit’ EP, featuring the new single ‘Not Your Summer’.
The EP is streaming now, and is released via Capitol Records.
‘Not Your Summer’ opens ‘Community Spirit’, and debuted on Thursday with a global first live animation event using Google Slides and in collaboration with BDDO New York. Fans were able to watch live as a team of animators put together the video in real time. It’s a fizzing, frenetic tune, with Craig Fitzgerald’s vocals floating effortlessly over a bed of breezy guitar chords. The circumstances in which the song is being released only adds pertinence to this wistful ode to what would usually be such a celebratory season. “Maybe it’s not your summer // Maybe it’s not your year,” resolves the song’s chorus hook, delivered in a cool falsetto which brings to mind The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas.
Although ‘Not Your Summer’ wasn’t written directly about lockdown, the anxiety induced by the pandemic has undeniably left its mark on the single. Craig explains: “Enjoying your own company can be a great thing, but it can also take its toll and that’s how I was feeling at the time, needing time away from myself.”
‘Community Spirit’ sees the Mullinger 4-piece honing their knack for epitomising the excitement and apprehension that one meets at the intersect between youth and adulthood, without a hint of cynicism or pretence. These are sky-scraping, heart-on-the sleeve anthems, accented with guitar hooks which immediately take up residency in the head of anyone who listens.
‘Kids (Don’t End Up Like Me)’ – the only cut from ‘Community Spirit’ to have been shared thus far – marked an unflinching return from The Academic. Written by Craig as a teenager, the song documents his fears of never leaving his hometown or amounting to anything. “I started looking through all my old notebooks and found this song fully written,” he says, retrospectively. “I had a gut feeling that it might come to life now with a few more years of living behind me since it was originally written.”
Having collaborated with Kaiser Chief’s Nick Hodgson on last year’s ‘Acting My Age’ EP, this new collection of tracks will mark The Academic stepping into the producer’s role, unquestionably developing as musicians with each thumping release that passes.
Despite their young years, Craig, Dean, Matthew & Stephen have already acquired a following and a CV that many bands would relish from a lifetime of work. Support slots with Pixies, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and The Rolling Stones (upon Sir Jagger’s personal request), as well as a debut album that reached #1 chart in the Irish charts, firmly cements The Academic in an enviable position amongst their peers in the category of UK and Irish bands on the path to superstardom.
Following the incredible reception that met 2020’s ‘Acting My Age’ EP, Mullinger’s finest had their bags packed in preparation to showcase their new tracks to a perpetually growing fanbase, before lockdown rules tightened once more. “Our minds as far as music goes is: record, release and tour. And it was very hard to accept that we wouldn’t be playing all this new music for people,” Craig recalls. ‘Luckily there’s some light at the end of the tunnel now and it’s only going to make going on tour all the more joyous.’
After an agonisingly long wait for the band and their followers alike, the guys will be returning to the stage towards the end of summer; where their intoxicating anthems truly comes into their own. Following a spot on the Main Stage at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival, The Academic will embark upon a full UK tour in Spring 2022.
Catch The Academic Live:
APR 09TH … ULSTER HALL … BELFAST
APR 10TH … MILLENNIUM FORUM … DERRY
APR 12TH … ARTS CLUB … LIVERPOOL
APR 13TH … O2 ACADEMY … OXFORD
APR 14TH … CLWB IFOR BACH … CARDIFF
APR 15TH … O2 INSTITUTE2 … BIRMINGHAM
APR 17TH … RESCUE ROOMS … NOTTINGHAM
APR 19TH … RIVERSIDE … NEWCASTLE
APR 20TH … SWG3 … GLASGOW
APR 21ST … THE CAVES … EDINBURGH
APR 22ND … TUNNELS … ABERDEEN
APR 24TH … STYLUS … LEEDS
APR 25TH … O2 RITZ … MANCHESTER
APR 27TH … O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN …LONDON
JUL 21ST … FESTIVAL BIG TOP … GALWAY
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