Chicago rockers Fall Out Boy join us today for a special Audacy Check In with host Mike Adam talking with the group about their new album So Much (For) Stardust, on shelves and streaming now, 2023 tour plans, and more.
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Fall Out Boy's 2023 album So Much (For) Stardust marks the group's eighth studio album, their first collection of new material since 2018’s M A N I A, and arrives following the drop of the new singles, "Love From The Other Side" and "Heartbreak Feels So Good,"
Bassist Pete Wentz and drummer Andy Hurley sat down with Mike Adam, revealing some of the new album's origins, including that the title was actually in the works for quite a while. "I had an idea for the title of the record a long time ago," Wentz explains, "but wasn't sure if we were gonna make the right record for the title."
The album's cover art, featuring an image of a dog biting at bubbles, Pete adds, "reminds me in a weird way of being like a sister idea to [2005's] 'From Under The Cork Tree,' which is about Ferdinand the bull and how he doesn't want to fight and hangs out in the flowers. I really wanted to do something that's tangible, so the title is done in claymation and the little dog is an oil painting. So like, you can't, but you could go touch it, you know what I mean?"
Art is here for interpreting, and Mike Adam sees the new album cover as being reminiscent of Stone Temple Pilots or Alice In Chains artwork that allowed him to create his own meanings growing up. "That's actually the perfect answer; that's what I want somebody to do more than anything," Pete says. "And, I'm so into all those '90s records," he adds. "I just feel like the artwork was bizarre and we were pre-digital, whatever. I love when people just come up with their own interpretation. It's honestly so much better than whatever we had."
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Looking over the new tracklist (below), you can't help but be struck by a feature listing for actor Ethan Hawke. Pete explains that over the course of the COVID pandemic, he and his 14-year-old son Bronx had "crushed" through a ton of movies that he had chosen.
"I think we watched 'Reality Bites,'" Pete remembers, "and I forgot about this speech that Ethan Hawke gives in the middle of it that's like a total stand-alone thing. Because 'Reality Bites' is like this one thing about being slackers in the '90s, and then there's this one speech he gives" about a pink seashell. "It's like this ultimate nihilistic moment where you're like, 'oh my god this is so dark,' baked into the middle of this Ben Stiller not comedy, but kind of a comedy. So, I always thought it could stand on its own; and it definitely speaks to part of what the album is, that nihilism, that feeling of dread where you're like, 'does any of it even matter?' We reached out to him, reached out to Ben Stiller, and they said it was cool."
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The guys also touched on the recent exit of guitarist Joe Trohman from the group, who recently stepped away to focus on his mental health. "He's in a great spot," Pete says. "We hung and he worked on this video. I think every once in a while you get the chance to reorganize the apartment that is your brain and heart, and it's good to take that time to do it. I think it's awesome to be really open about it -- because it just destigmatizes it for other people -- because everybody goes through that stuff. I think he will [tour with the band]. It's just a matter of when it will start, but I think he will."
Fall Out Boy are set to hit the road later this year, and as an added bonus, they'll be joined by Alkaline Trio and U.K. rockers Bring Me The Horizon on select dates. Check out the full schedule and ticket details HERE. Plus, for a limited time, Audacy has your chance to Go On Tour with Fall Out Boy.
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Don't miss Mike Adam's full Audacy Check In with Pete and Andy of Fall Out Boy above, and stay tuned for even more conversations with your favorite artists on Audacy.com/Live.
Fall Out Boy's So Much (For) Stardust is available now. Check out the full tracklisting below.
So Much (For) Stardust tracklist:
Love From the Other Side
Heartbreak Feels So Good
Hold Me Like a Grudge
Fake Out
Heaven, Iowa
So Good Right Now
The Pink Seashell feat. Ethan Hawke
I Am My Own Muse
Flu Game
Baby Annihilation
The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)
What a Time To Be Alive
So Much (For) Stardust
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