Career Day
I'll Always Be This

emo pop / fifth-wave emo / melodic punk / midwest emo / pop-punk / emo

With "I’ll Always Be This," Career Day focuses on introspection on who someone chooses to be in a cruel, inequitable world that feels mostly beyond our control. As expressed in “Last Thread,” the prevailing ethos of the release is a weary resilience summed up succinctly as:

“If all I control / Isn’t if, but when and how I lose / Burning with compassion / Comforted with callous / I know which L I’ll choose.”

Across the 12 minutes, the EP tackles America’s exploitative labor system (“Team Player”), disingenuous wellness culture and substance abuse (“Rumors of My Wellness”), existential burnout and hopelessness (“Last Thread”), class solidarity, and empathy and understanding for the homeless and impoverished (“One Bad Day).

After spending much of 2023 playing shows around the northeast, mid-atlantic, and midwest, all while juggling a lineup change, the band dove into the writing process over the course of a few dedicated sessions in December 2023. The intentionally compact writing process was the result of balancing the desire to follow up on the buzz generated from the touring and year-long post-release slow burn of the previous LP, while navigating vocalist Desmond Zantua’s limited availability the first half of the year due to his wedding. The tight window of time mixed with the emotionality of the moment translated to the band’s most urgent, thoughtful work yet.