Modern Baseball
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Modern Baseball

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Modern Baseball were originally set to visit our dusty island back in 2015, but some tough personal circumstances prompted a last minute cancellation. Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brendan Lukens has spoken publicly about his battle with depression, anxiety and at times substance abuse – which is all the more heartbreaking when you realise he’s one of the sweetest, most humble dudes on the planet. Rather than making up an ambiguous excuse for canning the tour, the band were honest about what they were going through, which led to an outpouring of support from fans and the music community at large.

“The support was insane, that was really cool to see. We’re pretty lucky,” says guitarist Jake Ewald. “We would rather be honest about it rather than like, ‘Oh, sorry. We can’t come. See ya later,” says Lukens. “We chose our words carefully and didn’t want to give too much away, ‘cause it was kind of a fragile time.”

Given the personal struggles, it’s amazing that Modern Baseball have managed to release a new album. It’s even more impressive considering they played a massive 180 shows back in 2014.

“We’re trying to do more than Pup,” laughs bassist Ian Farmer. Along with all this, the boys recently completed their studies in Communications and Music Recording. “Our mums are really proud,” laughs Lukens. “It was a solid six years, we took our time,” adds Ewald.

Holy Ghost is different from the band’s earlier releases for a number of reasons. The first of which is that Lukens and Ewald split the songwriting duties, each writing half of the album. “Brendan just called me one day, before we even booked the time to record and said, ‘Hey for this new record, what if we just did a Speakerboxxx/The Love Belowstyle split?’ We both had our own little chunk to work inside,” says Ewald. “Our sound has not only gotten bigger, but it feels tighter because everyone wrote their own parts, which is something that hadn’t been done in the past. It feels a lot more like a working unit. We were writing it as more of a band process, with an end goal,” adds Lukens.

The new album is indicative of the cohesion and energy that characterises a Modern Baseball live show. Capturing this on record was a high priority. “That’s something that Joe [Reinhart], our producer, really pushed for,” says Lukens. Huber adds, “There’s a lot of bands that you see live for the first time and you’re like, ‘This is so sick,’ and then you put the record on like, ‘This is so much quieter and slower.’ ”

Reinhart’s presence is another factor that differentiates Holy Ghost –it’s the first album Modern Baseball haven’t recorded themselves. Reinhart – known for his work with Hop Along and Joyce Manor – joined them at Headroom Studios in their hometown of Philadelphia. “This was the first time we had a grown up in the room who we trusted, and wasn’t also worried about writing and playing on the record,” says Ewald. “It took so much off of our shoulders,” Farmer says. “So we could focus on actually playing.”

Another factor that puts Holy Ghost in contrast to the band’s earlier releases is its slightly darker tracks and the inclusion of some heavy subject matter. While the album still presents Modern Baseball at their finest, it’s clear the band members are maturing.

“It’s kind of weird, ‘cause we live this Peter Pan lifestyle,” says Ewald. “But at the same time we’re also grown-ups and we have to figure out what to do with our lives.”

BY BEL RYAN