Last year, Balance And Composure announced their reunion and shared the great new songs “Savior Mode” and “Last To Know.” Today, the Pennsylvania emo staple is back with the announcement of with you in spirit, the follow-up to 2016’s Light We Made. The lead single “cross to bear” is out now.

“I truly believe that this is the best collection of Balance And Composure songs there’s ever been,” frontman Jon Simmons says. “It has the heavy stuff, it has the fast stuff, it has the groovy stuff. It has everything they’ve worked on over the last 12 years.”

The band broke up in 2019, with Simmons pursuing different musical ambitions under the name Creeks. Balance And Composure got back together in October 2022. “I began to feel like a kid again,” Simmons says. “We were writing these songs for the pure reason of having an outlet and getting together with your friends, no pressure. We were longing for it, and we found it as soon as we got together. We didn’t want that train to stop.”

Whereas Light We Made was a foray into dreamy shoegaze, “cross to bear” shows a return to their brooding, dark roots — the sinister sound that made their albums Separation and The Things We Think We’re Missing emo classics. with you in spirit was produced by their longterm collaborator Will Yip. Check out “cross to bear” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “restless”
02 “ain’t it sweet”
03 “any means”
04 “cross to bear”
05 “believe the hype”
06 “lead foot”
07 “sorrow machine”
08 “a little of myself”
09 “closer to god”
10 “with you in spirit”

with you in spirit is out 10/4 on Memory Music.

UPDATE: Hours after releasing “cross to bear,” Balance And Composure proclaimed, “We ain’t finished,” and unleashed a second single, “sorrow machine.” Hear it below.