If Arrows In Action aren’t already taking over your playlists, then this is coming at the perfect time! Their latest record I Think I’ve Heard This Before is not only a front-to-back fantastic record, but also acts as the ideal jumping-off point for anyone to jump into their music for the first time! We were lucky enough to get to chat with the band all about making this record, so let’s jump right in!
Listen to I Think I’ve Heard This Before here!
Welcome Back to The Honey POP! Before we fully jump in, for any of our readers who may be diving into Arrows in Action for the first time, how would you describe who you are as artists?
We’re a pop band that takes our craft seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. We love to create with few limitations to allow for collaboration and experimentation. We feel like this allows us to continue to evolve as artists. On stage, we just love to have a good time and keep the crowd involved.
It’s been an exciting month in the Arrows In Action world! I Think I’ve Heard This Before has been out for a few weeks at this point, how are you all feeling post-release? What does the week after a release look like for you?
Finally having this full album out is incredibly exciting for us. We renamed the record rather than just titling it “deluxe” because the four songs that make up the ‘dusk’ addition complete the initial vision. It’s been great to see people find the album through ‘Twice,’ a vulnerable song that was an experiment sonically for us. We’re really looking forward to celebrating the whole album on this next tour by playing some of the songs we haven’t been able to play live yet.
Talk us a bit through how the process of deciding to expand upon ‘I Think I’ve Been Here Before’ and to switch up the way the tracklist was constructed?
After we had completed what would become the two sides ‘Day & Night’ there were still songs floating that we loved. ‘Cold,’ the song that started this whole journey, we felt was a bit left behind because it didn’t conform to either vibe quite perfectly. We realized that these “in-between” songs were exactly that; they were in between Day & Night. They were Dusk! The final piece of this era.
Along with the album, you also just announced your first headlining tour in two years! How has the process of building this tour been while actively being on tour supporting Boys Like Girls?
It’s a comforting and exciting process to be actively working on and then announcing a headline tour while making new fans every night on a support tour. Opening for BLG was an amazing opportunity for us.
And speaking of the Boys Like Girls tour, is there a new touring habit you picked up on this tour that you think is going to follow you guys onto your solo tour?
Something we always remind ourselves of is how special every show is. Even though we’re playing every day on tour, every single stop is an important and unique event for the people there. We got to see a lot of performers who have been at this for twenty years or longer still carry that attitude with them. So not a new habit, but it certainly was a great reminder to continue to appreciate every second of this!
I Think I’ve Heard This Before has four more songs than the standard version of the album, how many songs would you guys say were in the running to be added to this album as a whole? And how do you narrow down which make the cut, and which to save for the deluxe record?
There were an additional five songs or so that didn’t end up being finished for this album. After a lot of writing we often all find ourselves returning to the same batch of demos, listening over and over. Those are the easiest to pick from, and from there we assemble the puzzle pieces. Why do we like these? What other demos share their DNA? Some songs will be tabled because they don’t fit the vision for the greater project. Some get finished later because even though they didn’t fit the vision, they were on repeat.
Back on the topic of tour, which song from the deluxe album are you most looking forward to watching come alive on stage?
‘Stop Talking’ has been a lot of fun to perform live. We intentionally picked a tempo you could jump to. Seeing people (even new people who don’t know the song) start bouncing the second that the chorus kicks in is huge for us.
Once again thank you guys so much for taking the time to chat with us! Before we let you go, if a reader is diving into your discography for the first time, which song should they start with?
Start with ‘Cheekbones!’
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We would love to hear from you! What is your favorite song off of I Think I’ve Heard This Before by Arrows In Action? Let us know by commenting below or by tweeting @TheHoneyPOP! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
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