CANDLEBOX Shares 'Punks' Single From Final Album 'The Long Goodbye'

Seattle rock band CANDLEBOX has revealed the details for its final studio album, "The Long Goodbye", due out Friday, August 25 via Round Hill Records. The LP's first single, "Punks", is a cautionary message to young bands that they won't be the hot new thing forever. Charging forward with a slashing guitar riff and rapid-fire drums, frontman and songwriter Kevin Martin howls about quick-burning success and vacuous trends.

"CANDLEBOX weren't the punks that paved the road for all these other bands that came along, but the statement is that music has always been there and nobody's really doing anything differently," shares Martin. "You think that you're invincible and you try to grab all those things that come along with being in a rock band and touring the world. But inevitably, you're left with yourself, and if you don't have something within yourself that can keep you grounded, what are you doing it for?"

Celebrating 30 years of success, CANDLEBOX is capping off their long and influential career with "The Long Goodbye". The new 10-track collection, produced by Don Miggs, finds the group taking stock of evolving maturity, fleeting time, and lasting love, all while kicking a lot of ass. In addition to the hard-rocking lead single "Punks", "The Long Goodbye" includes the sneering statement of independence "What Do You Need", co-written by Nick Brown of the alt-rock band MONA, who also appears on the track, and the moody, atmospheric "Elegante", where Kevin dives headlong into creative wordplay as Miggs and the band mimic a synth-pop vibe with guitars and drums. Elsewhere is the acoustic "Maze" and "Cellphone Jesus", where Kevin allows some of his worldview to seep in as he searches for a sign from above for a damaged society.

CANDLEBOX — Kevin Martin (lead vocals),Adam Kury (bass),Brian Quinn (guitar),Island Styles (guitar),BJ Kerwin (drums) — is currently on the road on their farewell tour, crossing the country until early fall with fellow rockers 3 DOORS DOWN as direct support on their massive "Away From The Sun" amphitheater tour in addition to various headlining shows. "The Long Goodbye" tour continues tonight (July 14) with a sold-out headlining show at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.

Emerging from Seattle's burgeoning mid-1990s grunge scene, CANDLEBOX quickly found mainstream success with their deep, lyrically driven melodies and big radio hooks, as evidenced by their massive hits "Far Behind", "You" and "Cover Me" that propelled their self-titled debut album, a defining record of the decade, to sell more than four million copies worldwide. Their follow-up album, "Lucy", earned a platinum certification and solidified CANDLEBOX as a tour de force in the thriving alt-rock scene. While the commercial success of the first album played a pivotal role in the band's trajectory to the top, it was their raw and unapologetically honest live performances that ultimately solidified their place among Seattle's elite. In 1998, CANDLEBOX released "Happy Pills", which would be their last album before going on hiatus from 2000 to 2006. In 2008, the band reformed and released their fourth album, "Into The Sun", and hit the road for the first time in 10 years, touring extensively and releasing "Alive In Seattle", a live album that included tracks from every era of their career. 2016 marked the triumphant return of CANDLEBOX with the release of "Disappearing In Airports", a more classic rock-tinged album hailed by many critics and fans as their best work in years. Singles "Vexatious" and "Supernova" drove the album to debut at #9 on the Billboard charts and spurred multiple U.S. and international tours, including major festival appearances at Carolina Rebellion, Welcome To Rockville and Lollapalooza Chile. While these iconic rockers have been blazing full steam since, releasing their album "Wolves" in 2021, and recently issuing a live, acoustic album, "Live At The Neptune", Kevin and CANDLEBOX are calling it quits in 2023, but they're not going quietly.

"The Long Goodbye" is ultimately a statement record, a document of a band that somehow survived an era that tragically proved too seductive for some of their peers to remain not only successful, but relevant. And after CANDLEBOX wraps it all up at the end of the year, the hits will still live on, along with a legacy that serves to inspire the young punks who come after them.

"The Long Goodbye" track listing:

01. Punks
02. What Do You Need ft. Mona
03. Elegante
04. I Should Be Happy
05. Nails On A Chalkboard
06. Ugly
07. Maze
08. Cellphone Jesus
09. Foxy
10. Hourglass

Photo credit: Graham Fielder