Irish alt-rock quartet The Academic specializes in anthemic-driven tunes primed for stadiums across the globe. Releasing their debut EP in late 2015, the band’s beginnings trace to a small rural Irish town of Mullingar, located an hour west of Dublin. Comprised of Craig Fitzgerald, Dean Gavin, and brothers Matthew and Stephen Murtagh, the tight-knit group focus on blistering indie-pop songs underpinned by a hidden layer of emotional maneuvering.
Today, the band shares “Aftertaste,” a shimmering and glorious new track soon to be bursting through the seams of your speakers. The bouncy, 80’s influenced indie-pop endeavor builds upon the band’s critical and commercial success of 2018’s debut LP Tales From The Backseat. “Aftertaste” is brimming over with the synchronous nostalgic and refreshing sound The Academic’s growing legion of followers have come to adore.
Speaking of “Aftertaste,” frontman Craig Fitzgerald says, “When it came to ‘Aftertaste’ it was a lot different to how we worked before. From a production standpoint we were a lot more involved. Sometimes there is a preconceived notion out there that if you are a guitar band, you should be in a particular lane. Our mindset when writing, is less defined by what the stereotype of an indie band should sound like and be more about letting our songs be the best they can be.”
Co-Produced by the band alongside Dublin producer, Cormac Butler, “Aftertaste” is a tantalizing teaser of what we can expect from the band’s second album, which is promised for the first half of 2020.The Academic’s 2018 gold certified debut LP Tales From The Backseat reached #1 on the Irish charts. They’ve shared the stage with headliners such as Twenty One Pilots, The Strokes, and Cage The Elephant as well as headlining their own sold out shows on both sides of the Atlantic. The band has 580k monthly Spotify listeners, over 40+ million Spotify streams, and over 126k followers across their social channels. The band has been featured on Billboard, VMAN, PASTE, and more.