''The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World'' is the upcoming seventh studio album by American rock band

Motion City Soundtrack Motion City Soundtrack is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Justin Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew Ta ...

. Produced by

Sean O'Keefe Sean Charles O'Keefe (born January 27, 1956) is a university professor at Syracuse University Maxwell School, former chairman of Airbus Group, Inc., former Secretary of the Navy, former Administrator of NASA, and former chancellor of Louisiana ...

, the album is set to be released on September 19, 2025, by

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

. The album comes after a protracted, ten-year absence, marking their longest gap between records. The band, mainstays of the 2000s

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

scene, decided to disband after their last album, 2015's '' Panic Stations''. They reunited in the 2020s for a series of anniversary tours. The record includes guest vocal spots from

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

Patrick Stump Patrick Martin Stumph (born April 27, 1984), known professionally as Patrick Vaughn Stump, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Rock music, rock band Fall Out Boy ...

Citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...

's Mat Kerekes, and

Sincere Engineer Sincere Engineer is an American punk rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band consists of Deanna Belos on lead vocals and guitar, Adam Beck on drums, Kyle Geib on guitar, and Nick Arvanitis on bass. The band has released three full-length a ...

's Deanna Belos.

Background

Motion City Soundtrack rose to prominence at the height of the 2000s emo movement, with their Moog-heavy sound masking themes of anxiety, alienation, and self-destruction. Led by singer-songwriter

Justin Pierre Justin Courtney Pierre (born May 26, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist originally from Mahtomedi, Minnesota. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack. He has also produced short fi ...

, the band had last released an album, ''Panic Stations'', through longtime label Epitaph in 2015. Having toured and recorded for a decade straight, the band announced their breakup the next year, citing exhaustion and personal life changes. They completed a farewell tour mid-2016, ending with a sold-out show in Chicago. Pierre remained active, releasing solo material in the interim. After a three-year hiatus, the band reunited in 2019, touring domestically in 2020 before the

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

halted further plans. They resumed activity in 2022, releasing covers and unreleased tracks, and hinting at future music. For a period, they embarked on a series of anniversary tours celebrating their past work, and performed at nostalgia festivals like When We Were Young. In August 2024, they released "Stop Talking," their first original single since 2015, tied to the film '' Dìdi''.

Recording and release

The album was recorded by

, a veteran producer who worked with bands like

Hawthorne Heights Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band formed in Dayton, Ohio in 2001. Originally called A Day in the Life, their lineup currently consists of JT Woodruff (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Matt Ridenour (bass, backing vocals) and Mark McMillon ...

and the

Plain White T's The Plain White T's are an American pop rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground followin ...

; he most recently had been making albums with bands like Beach Bunny. The band had previously worked with O'Keefe back in the 2000s, for split EPs with the bands

Matchbook Romance Matchbook Romance was an American emo and pop-punk band from Poughkeepsie, New York, initially formed in 1997 under the name Fizzlewink (1997–2001) and then The Getaway (2001–2002). They were signed to Epitaph Records and released two full-l ...

and

Schatzi Schatzi is an American band from Oklahoma, based in Austin, Texas, formed in 1996Andy Langer"Spotlights: Schatzi" ''The Austin Chronicle'', March 15, 2002. by Montez Williams, Christian Kyle, Jason Westbrook and Jason Altman. Biography Montez ...

. ''The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World'' was tracked at

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refused to take any roya ...

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

's space. The group announced ''The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World'' on June 17, 2025, releasing its lead single "She Is Afraid" alongside a music video inspired by '' Severance''. Reflecting on the new album’s creation, guitarist Joshua Cain said it was about reconnecting with what originally made the band special. Frontman Justin Pierre added that, unlike past records focused on personal struggles and confusion, he had since found clarity and a stronger sense of identity through working through those challenges. "You Know Who the Fuck We Are" was released as the album's second single on July 21, 2025.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Same Old Wasted Wonderful World Motion City Soundtrack albums 2025 albums Epitaph Records albums Albums produced by Sean O'Keefe Upcoming albums