After we released our debut album, “A Portrait of Man: Part I”, in August of 2020, we consistently dropped a long string of stand-alone singles, which were compiled in 2025 on a collection called “Looking for SINGLES In Your Area”, as well as a live EP, “Whiskey & Sinatra: Live in NYC”, and a 5-song EP titled “somewhere.in.between”. We are constantly writing and demoing new songs and ideas, and after a while, it’s good to take stock of the catalogue you’ve accumulated over months (and sometimes years). In Spring of 2025, that’s exactly what we did. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot more material than can fit on one record, so we decided to do what any rational people would: work on multiple albums simultaneously (more on that soon). Concurrently, while we began the process of sorting through the demo’s and designating the songs to which album collections felt most appropriate, we were signed by Deko Entertainment , a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Music/ADA.

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We’ve always been big fans of albums. When we love a band, we want to explore and absorb their entire catalogue, and albums are a great way to get a fuller, deeper perspective on an artist and their vision. There are no rules for how to release a project; we could have dropped all of these songs individually, but, beyond the two singles that preceded this record, it just felt right to put them all out together to be heard as one listening experience. For anyone who’s been following us for a while, it should come as no surprise that this album is all over the map stylistically. We were raised on an extremely eclectic range of music; our dad is a professional musician, and our mom is a music enthusiast, so there was always all kinds of music around the house in one way or another. Inevitably, that shapes your taste; what you gravitate toward, and what you eventually attempt to emulate. For us, our all time favorite albums always seem to lean toward the eclectic side of the spectrum (The Beatles “White Album” is the best record ever made, don’t @ us). When we were teenagers and started writing our own songs, we found ourselves writing with no preconceived notions of trying to fit within any one given genre, just what felt most natural, and for what best served the song. That feeling and idea has never faded in us, and in fact, has only been further solidified as the years go on.

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Since we started Rebel Kicks in 2018, we’ve been so fortunate to connect and work with an incredibly talented list of musicians, engineers & producers, several of which we collaborated with again on this project. On the first track, “There’s Always Tonight”, we had a blast co-writing, recording and producing with our friend, fellow musician, songwriter and producer, Ryder Stuart. The rest of the album was written and produced entirely by the two of us. The majority of this record was mixed by Jackson Hoffman (Tracks 1, 2, 4-10), Andrew Yanchsyhyn (Track 3), and mastered by John Naclerio at Nada Recording Studio (tracks 1-10). The final track, “Home With You (This Must Be Growing Up)”) was recorded, mixed and mastered by Anthony in his home studio, both to retain the home-made feel and sound of the demo, as well as reflect the sentiment of the songs’ subject matter.

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With the exception of “There’s Always Tonight”, which features us playing along with Ryder Stuart on guitar/background vocals and Jackson Hoffman on drums, the rest of the album’s instrumentation and vocals are performed entirely by the two of us, along with our longtime drummer, Daniel Bradley. The only other exception, is we were lucky enough to bring in our friend, composer/multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, Jeff Lederer, who played tenor saxophone brilliantly on two tracks, “Nero Sings While the City Burns”, & “Intrusive Thoughts”. Jeff previously recorded saxophone and clarinet parts on Anthony’s first solo recording project, “Desolate Town”, many years ago, so we were thrilled to have him featured again on our new project as well.

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The writing, creation and recording of the majority of these songs are fairly recent (mostly over the last year and a half), but three of them span several years: the oldest, “Fall Back,” was initially written as far back as 2012. Although the chorus and bridge have consistently remained the same, the rest of the song has gone through several drafts, re-writes and demo’s since it was initially created. Ultimately, all of that was scrapped, and the song was entirely re-written in the Spring of 2025. Additionally, “I’m Not Your Keeper” was first written and demoed in late 2018, and “Nero Sings While the City Burns” was conceived during covid lockdown in the early summer of 2020.

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Much like the musical side of things, lyrically, the songs on this album deal with a wide variety of topics: love, relationships, break-ups, anxiety, the positives and negatives of nostalgia, socio-political commentary, home, family, and more. We’re always interested in exploring concepts and ideas that are new for us within the framework of a 3 to 4 minute “pop song”. Expressing ourselves through the art of writing songs has always been something that has excited us, especially when you feel like you’ve particularly nailed an idea. It’s a feeling that has never gotten old, and an addiction of the best kind.

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The album’s front and back cover artwork was initially conceived by Anthony, and brilliantly executed and photographed by our friend, and incredibly talented photographer/film-maker, Ted Maniatakos. We wanted to visually reflect the many themes and feelings contained within the songs on the record, and the all-encompassing idea of “intrusive thoughts” leaped out to us as something that would make a compelling title and theme to explore. So, what would best represent a cocktail of joy and fun paired with fear and anxiety? Jumping into a pool in July with suits and ties and a guitar strapped on felt like a good representation of that idea to us. Honestly, even though it was hot and we were fully dressed, the water felt great - we recommend it.

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Finally, all of the above is to say - every song on this album is different. Some are loud. Some are quiet. Some have a horn section. Some are reflective. Some make you want to drive too fast with the windows down. Others feel like 2 A.M. when your brain won’t allow you to sleep. We wanted every track to have its own personality, its own mood, its own reason to exist. We’ve always felt than an album should feel like a roller coster and take you for a ride. Life isn’t one emotion - why should an album be?

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We’re immensely proud of this record, and we’re so excited for people to finally hear it. Thank you to everyone who helped us achieve our vision for this project, we appreciate each and every one of you. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we have creating it.

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All our best, always,

Anthony & Steven (Rebel Kicks)​​​