Chicago alt-rock mainstays The Academy Is… are returning with their first full-length album in nearly two decades. Almost There arrives March 27, 2026 via I Surrender Records, marking the band’s first studio release since 2008’s Fast Times at Barrington High. Pre-orders are live now, with vinyl, CDs, and merchandise available through the band’s webstore, alongside a limited run of signed vinyl through I Surrender.
The announcement lands alongside the release of the lead single, “2005,” a track that reconnects the band with the melodic urgency that defined their early work, incorporating bright guitars, forward motion, and big melodies, while framing it through a more reflective lens. The song features one of William Beckett’s most emotionally unguarded vocal performances to date. Along with the release of the track, the band premiered the accompanying music video on YouTube.
Almost There spans 11 tracks and circles around the distance between who the band was and who they are now. That distance shows up in different ways: from youth, from expectations, and from versions of themselves that once felt permanent. While the album taps into the urgency that made Almost Here such a defining release in the mid-2000s pop-punk world, it also gives the songs room to breathe.
ALMOST THERE Tracklisting:
1. Up In The Air
2. Miracle
3. 2005
4. Freak Out
5. Snow Days
6. 100mph
7. Floating Through Time (interlude)
8. L Train
9. Lost Signals
10. Lulu Boy
11. Ten Years
The band’s renewed creative energy follows last year’s Almost Here 20th Anniversary Tour, which drew packed crowds and multiple sold-out dates. That response led directly to a second leg of shows, kicking off April 10 at Town Ballroom in Buffalo, with dates running through April and May. The setlists feature a full playthrough of Almost Here, along with longtime staples reworked with updated arrangements—and a few early hints of what comes next. Tickets can be purchased here.
Two decades removed from their breakout, The Academy Is… are writing from a very different place. “Almost There is really about everything that’s happened in the space between,” Carden says. Beckett puts it more simply: “Almost Here was about leaving home. This album is about finding your way back. It’s the other end of the spectrum.” That push and pull—between past and present—runs through the entire record. Almost There isn’t about recreating what came before so much as understanding it. “Almost Here was the beginning. Almost There is the reflection,” Beckett says. “It’s about checking in with who you thought you’d be twenty years later, seeing what changed, what stuck, and what still feels like home.”
Almost There is out everywhere March 27, 2026, via I Surrender Records.
THE ACADEMY IS… ALMOST HERE 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR 2026
APRIL
10 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
11 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
15 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
18 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor
19 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues Orlando
24 – Austin, TX – Emo’s
25 – Dallas, TX – The Echo
26 – Houston, TX – House of Blues Houston
MAY
1 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
2 – Seattle, WA – Showbox at The Market
7 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
8 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre
9 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
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