"Dimmed Sun," which opens the band's latest album, Dreams of Being Dust, defines this new direction as it alternates between burly metalcore and cleaner, more expansive prog-emo. Gnarly, compressed guitars are paired with shouted or snarled vocals; noodly harmonized riffs accompany the more skyward-reaching singing. Throughout it all, drummer Steven Buttery gets busy, breaking free of the chains of the slow-build climaxes that once hamstrung his abilities.
Their new record Big Dreams, Mister (the title of which should be read in the voice of an early 20th-century newsie) is their first in fourteen years, and it fucking rips. It exists in the rarified air of Superchunk's fantastic post-hibernation record Majesty Shredding and not those "why would they do this?" reunion records of beloved bands whomst shall go unnamed. It is equal parts highly-concentrated effort, pressure-free creativity and the thirst to settle unfinished business after the band stopped making music together in 2012.
Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) have announced a reunion tour leading up to their appearance at Best Friends Forever, bending their own rules regarding a Detroit Lions Super Bowl promise.