After an eight year stretch, emo veterans Brand New recently came out with a new album, "Science Fiction". Though still largely keeping their tried and true emo and indie rock style, Brand New manage to keep things fresh on their most recent output.

"Science Fiction" keeps 2009 "Daisy"'s melancholic and bleak atmosphere, but scraps the angry side of it for a more depressive mood. The new album still manages to keep Brand New's cathartic style of music, however, just in a different, more restrained and softer way.

The entire album starts with a woman describing her dream to a psychotherapist in the song "Lit Me Up" building a tense and almost haunting atmosphere early on. The next song "Can't Get It Out" introduces the large presence of grunge inspired elements to the album, reminiscent of Pearl Jam or Nirvana. Overall, this helps build the atmosphere and mood of the album, but can feel cheesy and lifeless because of how dated grunge is in its essence at this point in time.

The production for the entire album is perfect, obviously being meticulously mixed and sequenced; an aspect that gets "Science Fiction"'s sound even closer to the likes of alternative rock bands like Live and Stone Temple Pilots. Furthermore, Brand New keeps their classic ear worm choruses on the album through songs like "137" and "Can't Get It Out" while at the same having acoustic ballads like "Could Never Be Heaven", a first for the band. Thus, "Science Fiction" is in many ways Brand New's most varied yet, with the band pulling from many new influences.

The lyrics in "Science Fiction" are very simple and explicit yet still pulse with cathartic power. "Science Fiction" is an album about depression, self - loathing, and introspection. Very existential, the lyrics at some points can fall flat and seem synthetic, but still carry a swan song message of Brand New's legacy moving forward.

The album is definitely more alternative rock centric in various ways, both already discussed and not. Depending on the opinion of the listener, this aspect can either greatly take away from or add to the music. If the listener enjoys these aspects and feels that they are a smart segway into Brand New's last album that complements their style and overall atmosphere, then they'll like "Science Fiction" more than a listener who thinks that Brand New are just using outdated grunge and alternative rock themes to create a fake emo, radio friendly, and overly dramatic album.

Thus, opinions on "Science Fiction" will probably be very rifted, depending on what the listener is looking for and expects in both the band and genre of emo itself. Going in with a more open mind, it is clear to see, at least for me, that this is a tediously cared over last hurrah of a great band that constantly changed throughout its lifetime. It's an album that does and says what it wants, leaving the future to decide what it thinks about it all.

Also the album cover is really cool, at least in my opinion.