The Cab is gearing up to release their first album in more than a decade with Chasing Crowns, due on April 24. Featuring singles “Back From The Dead” and “Locked And Loaded,” the group alos revealed a piece of the forthcoming 18-track LP today with the arrival of “Sweet Kerosene.”
“This one has always felt like a movie. There are just some songs where the script just writes itself and the imagery just paints itself,” the band shares. “We have been dying for the world to hear this one, and we hope you love it as much as we do. Sometimes it’s better to let someone burn you to the ground than to never have felt the heat of their flames at all. ‘Sweet Kerosene’ is one of those songs that truly set our creativity and hearts on fire.”
idobi Radio had the chance to catch up with frontman Alex DeLeon ahead of the Chasing Crowns release to talk reunions in the scene, trips to Antarctica, and dad life. Check out the full interview below.
Chasing Crowns is coming out in exactly a week, your first album in more than a decade. How does it feel to be getting back into the game?
A lot of life has passed. There are a few songs on this record that have been in the making for literally a decade. 10 Years. So these songs are older than my daughter. Some of them have been around pretty much since before I even met my wife. And I’ve been with her for about 13 years. It’s long overdue. And the feeling of excitement is through the roof. There’s so many times where we didn’t know if we’d ever be making another album. So, this record is really important to us because it is kind of documentation, a love story, and also heartbreak of the past 10 to 15 years.
I would say, lyrically, it’s probably the most important record we’ve ever made. I mean, Symphony Soldier, I think we had 16 days to make that record. With this one, we’ve had a decade. We can’t wait for people to hear it and see what fans’ favorite song is going to be. Because, you know, we always have so many different genres on our records. So I’m excited to see what people think and just get it out.
That’s the fun part about being in a band, I guess. It’s yours during the recording process, and then you put it out in the world, and it becomes its own thing, and it becomes different things to different people.
And with the fact that you have 18 tracks across the whole thing, you clearly had a lot to say. You’re talking about, obviously, Alex Marshall’s health issues, coming back together, etc. You’ve grown up a lot. You are a family man now. What themes did you feel most needed to get out in this LP?
I mean, it’s kind of a continuation, in a way, of [my solo project] Bohnes. I think the older you get, you really start looking at your life and at the world from the outside, and you kind of see the big picture. You’re more scared. Now that I have a daughter, everything’s more fragile. And when you’re young, you’re driving fast and just happy to be in the car. And then you kind of get to this point where life and death become real. You know, [Alex] Marshall almost died, and then…there’s creating a life. Since the last record, I think I kind of figured out what love is to me. I finally found someone who defined what that is. And I think there’s also the fear of losing that, because everyone dies one day.
When we were young, I remember writing songs, not even knowing what some of the lyrics meant because you’re 17 years old. We were learning from Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, and we were just writing cool lines. As you get older, you care more about what you’re saying. And I think that makes it probably more relatable, too.
I mean, when the band broke up the first time, and I was told by the doctor that I was probably never singing again, I spiraled. I had a really dark few months. And then I just said, “You know what…I’m going to take the money that I’ve made, and I’m just going to go see the world.” And I packed my bags and I went to about 100 countries, went to all seven continents, and just lived life. Because you have to live a life to have a story to tell.
Do you have any surprising or favorite places you visited that really informed some of the story you’re telling on this record?
There’s so many for different reasons. Antarctica! To be at the the bottom of the planet is pretty wild. You’re not seeing other people, you’re just out there in nature, and everything’s kind of in HD. There’s no trees, so there’s no pollen in the air. There’s no particles or anything in between that mountain and your eye. So everything was just very visceral and that literal. You’re pretty much alone in your thoughts because it’s daylight 24/7, and you’re just cruising past icebergs and whales and penguins, and you have a lot of time to get in your own brain.
And then I would also say, even with this record, in the art direction, too…I moved to Rome for a few months, and I’ve probably spent a year of my life total in Italy. So, if you look at all the art direction on the project and even some of the choir parts, it’s very Italian-influenced. That’s probably due to a lot of my time there, going to the museums, and studying the culture and history. And I think that’s the cool thing about life. Every place you go, every experience you have is a part of you, [and it] just becomes instilled in you, and it’s just a brick in your life story—good and bad.
The reception to you guys coming back was the warmest welcome of all time. What has this big return to the alternative industry felt like for you?
It felt like coming home. It was so special. And I think the biggest part was seeing the old friends and the other bands, and also seeing the fans. I remember so many fans’ names and stories, and just remember seeing a 12-year-old fan or a 16-year-old fan back then, and then seeing them now, and they’ve blossomed and flourished and have families of their own, and they’re in badass jobs.
People who were fans of the scene and went to those shows together had a really special bond. It was probably, of all the scenes, the one that people were the most emotionally connected. And so, I think that’s why it’s still successful now, and why it’s as big as it is now. Because those are core life memories for people, and people would legitimately make friends. Our fans, even now, thank me for meeting some of their best friends at our shows. And that is so special.
It’s a community that has grown. And even as you said, people are having their own families and are bringing kids to shows. And you have been out of the headlining run game for a bit. You’ve got some practice on the recent Everyone’s Talking tour. So what was it like getting back into touring after time away, and how are you prepping for your own headlining run for the first time in over a decade?
I mean, the tour was great because I grew up going to All Time Low shows as a fan. And then, through the years, we became friends with them and toured with them. So it was great for the first tour back to be with dudes we love and are comfortable with. And then it was cool to have Mayday Parade [on tour]. Jake [Bundrick], one of my best friends in the whole scene, his wife was our tour manager back in the day, so it was great to see her. And then, The Paradox just brings the energy and the youthful juice that keeps everybody on their toes. And then, for the first time in our career, we got the opportunity to play Red Rocks, which was a bucket list [venue] for all of us.
We’re excited now to play 17-20 songs on this tour. We’re playing songs that we’ve never played before, unreleased songs, maybe covers up the sleeve. And so it’s going to be a blast.
A lot of guys in the alt scene now are dads. So, this is a question I like to ask everyone. Does your daughter think you’re cool and does she like your music?
I will never be as cool as Anna and Elsa or Olaf… ever. I don’t expect to be. She knows, at two and a half years old, every word of “Back from the Dead.” We have a song called “Bad,” and the lyric is, “I want a bad girl, baby, bad,” and she thinks that I sing baby bear—“I want a bad girl, baby bear.” So it is adorable. And I’m never gonna tell her that it’s not the right lyric. It’s really, really, really, really cute. Obviously, she doesn’t know what a shotgun is, but she has Angel—the character from Lilo and Stitch— and she just carries her around and goes, “I’m an angel with a shotgun.” It’s like the cutest thing ever. So, am I cool to her? I hope so. I don’t think she’s old enough to know that I’m not cool.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
