New Again

An early title for the album was When All Is Said and Done More Is Said Than Done, suggested by Fazzi. The group liked it, however, Fazzi said it was "way too long to fit on a side of a CD".[27] According to Lazzara, the album was given the title New Again because "that's what it feels like. We are in a totally different band, just because there has been this new life breathed into the band with the addition of Matt[hew Fazzi]."[28] The album was written in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Here, Rubano said the group "stuck out on the street because we were so loud".[29] For the album, the band embraced the concept that "it's up to us to decide what Taking Back Sunday sounds like. We always want to be redefining what that means, and there's stuff on this record I think in the past we would have stayed away from", according to Rubano.[29] Fazzi said the group wanted to "put a new foot forward ... to show people that we're expanding the music".[30] He noted that the song structures and chord patterns were "just a bit stronger and smarter".[30]

According to Lazzara, Fazzi was a major contributor in writing New Again. The band was, "Experimenting ... [with] a lot of different instruments, horns, glockenspiels, there's a flautist on the record. And it's stuff we never would've tried before."[26] Jillian Newman, the group's manager, also mentioned Fazzi's influence: "[Fazzi] brought a really positive, happy energy to the band. A lot of the walls came down during writing. He allowed everybody to try new things."[21] With New Again, Lazzara considered his lyrics to be "a lot more forward," compared those on earlier songs.[28] Reyes called the album "one of the most aggressive records we've ever written".[1] The album's sound has been described as alternative rock,[31] pop punk,[32] pop rock[33][34] and post-hardcore,[35] shifting away from the emo sound of their earlier work.[36]

Rubano had a bassline that, within an hour of playing it, became the track "New Again."[37] After writing it, Fazzi said it was a "no-brainer for an opener".[38] O'Connell called it "powerful" and said it "sets the mood" for the album.[39] One day during rehearsals, Fazzi played a guitar riff, then O'Connell played along, resulting in "Sink into Me."[40] The song begins with cheerleader-esque "hey!"s that Fazzi came up with,[41] as well as handclaps.[36] Lazzara referred to it as a "freight train. ... if you were to stand in front of it, you would get pummeled".[26] Lazzara also mentioned that the music to it was "unlike anything we've ever done before. It's real[ly] upbeat."[30] For "Lonely, Lonely," Lazzara said it was the "first time that we just turned it up to ten and went with it".[42] With this song, Fazzi said the group wanted something "short, to the point and just punishing from start to finish".[43] The song's bridge had been suggested by Fazzi during his audition for the band.[44] Rubano said the track was "a freight train of rock & roll" and was inspired by Queens of the Stone Age.[29] "Summer, Man" was one of the first songs written for New Again. It was composed during the Projekt Revolution tour, and consisted originally of a bridge guitar riff by Reyes.[45] Rubano said it was the band's take on a Beach Boys-esque song,[46] and has been compared to a mix of Weezer and Bush[47] with its power pop chorus sections.[48]

O'Connell came up with "Swing," a song that Rubano said "speaks to what the sound of the band is right now".[49] The power ballad "Where My Mouth Is"[32] was the last song recorded for New Again. According to Lazzara, the lyrics were "the most blatant that I've ever been in a song".[50] The demo for the song was originally acoustic with an organ, mostly instrumental, and ran for 6–7 minutes.[51] Fazzi praised the track, as did Rubano. The song subsequently went through various arrangement changes.[52] The riff for "Cut Me Up Jenny" came from Lazzara: "I was so bored and so lazy, I picked up the guitar and then the [mimics intro guitar riff]. That's where it came from and we made a song out of it."[53] Lazzara described it as "a little choppy" with "a nice groove to it".[54] Fazzi said the track has a "crazy 80s vibe, it's a very different song for Taking Back Sunday",[55] while Rubano said it contained hints of Phoenix and Bloc Party.[29] When "Catholic Knees" existed as a rough idea, Fazzi suggested that the group change the time signature to ⁷
₈.[56] Lazzara cited it as an example of Fazzi's influence on the band: "'Cause none of us would have thought to [change the time signature]."[57] Reyes compared the track to Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters;[58] the bridge section recalled Glassjaw.[59]

Rubano came up with the main riff for "Capital M-E," which Lazzara called "too easy" after hearing it for the first time, "like it needs something else".[60] Rubano was adamant, saying "work on it, we'll figure it out".[61] While Reyes compared it to Weezer,[62] Rubano compared it to early Taking Back Sunday, in the sense that "it's a very simple song and about the energy you put behind it".[63] Lyrically, it was inspired by a comment Mascherino made during an interview after leaving the band: "[Taking Back Sunday was] more about cooking food than making music."[1] Lazzara said, "it would probably be the first and last time that I'll go in-depth about that subject".[64] "Carpathia" was named after the ship RMS Carpathia, which was the first ship to hear a distress call from the RMS Titanic.[65] With the lyrics, Lazzara said he tried to be "really obvious with it".[66] The track features a bass solo, which was originally suggested by Fazzi and Lazzara.[67] "Everything Must Go" details the split between Lazzara and DuPree.[1] The title originally appeared as a lyric in an early draft of the song.[68] Lazzara called "Didn't See That Coming" "really slow and almost haunting".[54] He said it was a prequel to "Cut Me Up Jenny."[69]

New Again received generally favorable reviews from critics, according to review aggregation website Metacritic.[109] AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that, like their peers, Taking Back Sunday "gets increasingly poppy as their career winds on".[32] He mentioned that their sound was "brighter and bigger in every regard".[32] Writing for Alternative Press, Scott Heisel praised the record highly, stating that it "leaps forward as the best album of Taking Back Sunday's career to date".[59] He also mentioned it featured "a darker, more menacing vibe".[59] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard said the group "branch[ed] out from its emo roots," sounding "focused" delving into "complex melodies and thematic ideas".[36] Lipshutz said that Lazzara's growth as a songwriter made the album "a brisk, enjoyable outing".[36]

In a review for Entertainment Weekly, author Andy Greenwald said the group were able to "reinvent themselves as mainstreamo shredders" with New Again.[110] Melodic reviewer Tom Spinelli noted that the "more straight forward ... sound" the group were going for could push them "into a more mainstream audience".[47] He mentioned that while a lot of the songs have "a more radio sound on them," it's not done in a "cheesy way".[47] Jon Pareles of The New York Times mentioned Kahne's production as giving the band "a little more gloss".[48] Pareles noted several homages to U2: the guitar work on "New Again" and "Catholic Knees," the keyboard intro to "Where My Mouth Is," as well as Lazzara's "vocal delivery, full of Bono's breathy gulps and open-throated crescendos".[48]

PopMatters' Matthew Niner praised Lazzara's voice, calling him "an incredibly versatile vocalist".[111] Niner wrote that the group created "another solid album that cements their reputation as one of the most genuinely affecting and consistent bands in the current scene".[111] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone wrote that while an "arena-ready polish" features throughout the album, it doesn't help the "forced melodrama," in songs such as "Lonely, Lonely".[112] Spin reviewer David Bevan wrote that album "focuses on roaring arenas as much as on two-timing lovers".[113] He said Lazzara's vocals sounded "more sore- than full-throated, but they still freeze blood for short stretches".[113] Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic wrote that New Again "places less emphasis on catchy parts and [is] more focused on entire songs".[114]

New Again debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 48,000 copies in its first week in the United States.[115] The album reached number two on the Alternative Albums chart,[116] number five on both the Digital Albums[117] and Top Rock Albums charts[118] and number six on the Tastemaker Albums chart.[119] The album also charted at number 16 on the Canadian Albums Chart,[120] number 31 on the Australian Albums Chart[121] and number 46 on the UK Albums Chart.[122] "Sink into Me" peaked at number 10 on the Alternative Songs chart and[123] number 32 on the Hot Rock Songs chart.[124]

Alternative Press named it album of the year.[125] Fuse.tv's Jason Lipshutz called New Again his least-favorite Taking Back Sunday album. Lipshutz said that there were "moments worth revisiting" on the album, but it was "clearly a transitional outing," attempting to build on the success of Louder Now.[126] In a retrospective piece, Scott Heisel of Alternative Press said Fazzi helped bring "jazz, off-kilter riffs" and "lush textures" to the band, while mentioning the rest of the group provided the "most aggressive songs to date in 'Lonely, Lonely' and 'Swing'."[125]

In 2010, Lazzara answered questions on his Formspring account, commenting that New Again "was a gigantic step backwards" and that he was "not fully satisfied with what we put out".[2] In 2012, Reyes said of New Again: "I didn't like how we had to constantly change producers and the songwriting didn't turn out originally as it was, it just kind of bummed us out a bit."[127] Discussing New Again in 2016, Rubano called the period "the golden time where I was like 'oh, we're doing music, that we all really like, that we can't wait to get out' and things were going pretty good for a little while".[14] However, when the album was released, the "critics seemed to like it, but it didn't really hit [with the public], and then when we started the touring cycle for it there was a very decisive mood turn in a band that already was insanely moody all the time".[14]

The album was released on vinyl in April 2017.[128]