''Crooked Shadows'' is the seventh studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Dashboard Confessional Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, formed in 1999 and led by singer Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" off their debut album, '' The Swiss Army Roma ...

. It was released on February 9, 2018 through Fueled by Ramen and

Dine Alone Records Dine Alone Records is a Canadian and American record label, founded in St. Catharines and Toronto by Joel Carriere. The label is now based in Toronto, Nashville and Los Angeles. History Dine Alone was born out of founder Joel Carriere's home ...

. It is their first studio album in nine years, following 2009's '' Alter the Ending''. The album debuted at number 53 on the ''Billboard'' 200, as well as number four on both the ''Billboard'' Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts.

Release

On November 15, 2017, "We Fight" premiered on

Beats 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

. Alongside this, ''Crooked Shadows'' was announced for release in February the following year. On December 18, a music video was released for "Belong", directed by Joe Zohar. Two days later, a music video was released for "We Fight", directed by David Mack. In early January 2018, the band performed the track on '' Conan''. On January 19, "Heart Beat Here" was made available for streaming. ''Crooked Shadows'' was released on February 9 through Fueled by Ramen. In February and March 2018, the group embarked on a headlining US tour with support from

Beach Slang Beach Slang was an American rock band from Philadelphia formed in May 2013. The band underwent several line-up changes, with lead vocalist/guitarist James Alex serving as the band's leader, figurehead, chief songwriter and sole original member. ...

. In August, they went on a co-headlining US tour with

All Time Low All Time Low is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Towson, Maryland, in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson ...

. A second leg was planned to follow in September and October, however, the day before this was to start, the band pulled out of a few days due to Carrabba dealing with a family emergency. Four days later, the group pulled out of the second leg entirely. On November 15, a music video was released for "Just What to Say", directed by Ryan Hamblin.

Critical reception

''Crooked Shadows'' was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 57, based on 9 reviews. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the album 60 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 9 reviews.

Track listing

Personnel

Dashboard Confessional *

Chris Carrabba Christopher Andrew Carrabba (born April 10, 1975) is an American musician who is the primary songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the band Dashboard Confessional, lead singer of the band Further Seems Forever, and lead vocalist for the folk ...

– lead vocals, guitar, keyboard * Benjamin Homola – drums, percussion * Armon Jay – guitar, backing vocals * Scott Schoenbeck – bass, keyboard Technical personnel * Jonathan Clark – producer, engineer * Chris Carrabba – producer * Jonathan Howard – producer and engineer , additional instrumentation *

Colin Brittain Colin Cunningham (born December 29, 1986), known professionally as Colin "Doc" Brittain, is an American songwriter, producer, and musician signed to Warner Chappell Music. In September 2024, he joined Linkin Park and has been the band's new drum ...

– co-producer, mixing, additional instrumentation *

Chad Gilbert Chad Everett Gilbert (born March 9, 1981) is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band New Found Glory, for whom he plays lead guitar, sings backing vocals, and composes music. He was als ...

– additional production *

Cash Cash Cash Cash is an American EDM-pop rock band / producer / DJ trio from Roseland, New Jersey. The group consists of three DJs / musicians: brothers Jean Paul and Alex Makhlouf and Samuel Frisch. They produce, record, mix and master all their mus ...

– producer and mixing * Ben Sabin – recording, additional mixing, additional instrumentation *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering * Jack Barakat – additional instrumentation * Lee Cunningham – additional instrumentation * Dylan Meek – additional instrumentation * Cheyenne Sabin – additional instrumentation

Charts

References

{{Authority control Dashboard Confessional albums 2018 albums Fueled by Ramen albums