Pop rock act Boys Like Girls are gearing up to release their first full-length album since 2012. Sunday at Foxwoods, due out October 20, cements the band’s official comeback after years of one-off releases and a brief hiatus.
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The record follows a string of new singles shared in recent months, offering an updated version of the polished punk-rock sound of their hit 2006 self-titled LP. Along with details of their upcoming fourth record, the band shares their passionate new track, “Cry.”
[RELATED: Boys Like Girls Return After 11-Year Hiatus with “Blood And Sugar”]
“I’m not really a campfire-style singer, but on my third or fourth date with my now wife, she asked me to play her a song. I don’t know why, but I picked up the guitar and started playing ‘Cry’ in front of someone for the first time,” frontman Martin Johnson shares in a statement. “A crazy thing happened…I felt the song in the way I had always wanted to. I meant the words I was singing…and I meant them for her.”
Johnson has been married to Naomi Cooke, a member of the country group Runaway June, since 2021. In recent years, the 37-year-old has built an impressive roster of co-writes and production credits, including Elle King and Miranda Lambert‘s No. 1 hit “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).”
“To me, every song is a living, breathing thing,” Johnson explains. “Some are born before their time. Some are just supposed to make you feel good, some have great purpose. Sometimes, when you write, you’re telling a real story, but sometimes, it’s a made-up one. Sometimes, the words just sound good, and you figure it out later. This one took years to reveal itself.”
“My hope is that ‘Cry’ finds its purpose and meaning to the listener a bit quicker than it took for me,” he continues. “More importantly, my hope is that it finds the ears of those who need it. A couple [of] weeks ago, Beef and I were sitting in my truck outside the studio, critically listening to mixes of our first album together in a dozen years. At the end of ‘Cry,’ I looked to the passenger seat, and the toughest man I know had tears running down his face and into his beard. We hugged and cried together in the car, two old friends still making music together, still pushing each other to be better musicians and men 20 years after we met in 2003.
“Even if this one is just for us, I know in my heart that it was worth waiting until the time was right,” Johnson concludes. “And after ten years of waiting, I’m finally ready to sing it, and we’re finally ready to share it with you. The time is right.”
On September 13, Boys Like Girls will kick off their Speaking Our Language Tour with a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. The extensive headlining trek stretches through the beginning of November and features support from many fellow pop-rock acts from the early 2000s. 3OH!3, The Ready Set, LOLO, Four Years Strong, Max Mernis, The Summer Set, Every Avenue, and SayWeCanFly will appear as opening acts on select dates.
You can view a complete list of tour dates below. Additional information about the performances and ticketing options is available at Boys Like Girls’ official website.
Watch the official music video for “Cry” below.
Boys Like Girls’ 2023 Speaking Our Language Tour Dates
September 17 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore +
September 18 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl +
September 19 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle +
September 21 – New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore New Orleans +
September 23 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution +
September 24 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues Orlando +
September 26 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater +
September 27 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center +
September 28 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory #
September 30 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren %
October 1 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium &
October 2 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Las Vegas &
October 4 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA %
October 6 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic †
October 8 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom †
October 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom †
October 11 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre †
October 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot †
October 14 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium †
October 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis †
October 18 Madison, WI @ The Sylvee †
October 19 –Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom =
October 21 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland =
October 22 –Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit =
October 23 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre =
October 24 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY ^
October 26 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall Fenway †
October 27 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom †
October 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia †
October 31 – Silver Springs, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Springs †
November 1 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz †
+ support from Four Years Strong and LOLO
# support from Four Years Strong, LOLO, Max Bemis
% support from 3OH!3, LOLO
& support from 3OH!3, LOLO, The Ready Set
† support from The Summer Set, LOLO
= support from The Summer Set, LOLO, Every Avenue
^ support from The Summer Set, LOLO, SayWeCanFly
(Photo by Matty Vogel, Courtesy of Big Hassle)
