To the Stars (Tom DeLonge album)

To the Stars
Studio album by Tom DeLonge
Released April 21, 2015
Genre Pop punk, alternative rock, Punk rock, acoustic
Length 25:51
Label To the Stars
Singles from To The Stars
  1. "New World"
    Released: March 10, 2015

To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends (often shortened to To the Stars) is the debut studio album by Tom DeLonge. It was released on April 21, 2015 (following his departure from Blink-182 in January 2015) through DeLonge's multimedia company also titled To the Stars.[1] The album To the Stars is said to contain tracks from DeLonge's "personal stash,"[1] which may include some demos for Blink-182's cancelled 2015 studio album.[2][3] The album also contains tracks originally intended for Angels and Airwaves.[4] The eight-song album was released on vinyl, CD and digital formats.[5]

Background

A few weeks after DeLonge's announced departure from the pop punk band Blink-182, through social media he expressed his interest in releasing demos he wrote for a potential Blink-182 album.[6][7] The album To the Stars was formally announced on February 28, 2015,[8] and DeLonge later elaborated that the album was one of four albums he would be releasing in 2015—he intends to release two solo albums and two Angels & Airwaves albums.[9]

Promotion

Leading up to the album's release, DeLonge released several songs for online streaming with accompanying music or lyric videos. He first released an online stream for the track "New World" on March 10, 2015.[10] A lyric video for the track "The Invisible Parade" was released on March 24, and the song itself may have been inspired by DeLonge's brother who served in Iraq as a Naval lieutenant.[11] On April 7, an online stream for the track "Circle-Jerk-Pit" was released,[12] and a few weeks later a music video for the track was released on April 21.[13]

The official music video for "New World" was released on April 2, 2015.[14] It was directed by Mark Eaton and consists of time-lapsed scenes of DeLonge destroying various instruments, a laptop and sound equipment at his studio Jupiter Sound in San Diego, using a Squire Stratocaster guitar and a sledgehammer. These scenes are interspersed with others of DeLonge wandering the streets of San Diego, holding the same destroyed Squire Stratocaster held together with duct tape. NME described the video as being "symbolic"[14] and Billboard said that it is "hard not to think of this as an eff you to his old band, as he packs up his stratocaster and hits the streets."[15]

Track listing

  1. "New World" – 3:34
  2. "An Endless Summer" – 4:09
  3. "Suburban Kings" – 4:10
  4. "The Invisible Parade" – 3:29
  5. "Circle-Jerk-Pit" – 1:59
  6. "Landscapes" – 2:14
  7. "Animals" – 3:41
  8. "Golden Showers in the Golden State" – 2:35

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 96
US Billboard 200[17] 70

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brodsky, Rachel (March 2, 2015). "Tom DeLonge Will Release New Album, 'To the Stars... Demos, Odds and Ends'". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ Paybe, Chris (March 2, 2015). "Blink-182's Tom DeLonge Announces Solo Album 'To the Stars,' Shares Song Snippets". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Crane, Matt. "Matt Skiba talks new Blink album, possibly becoming a "permanent member"". AltPress.com. Alternative Press. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Angels and Airwaves. "Angels and Airwaves on Facebook - "Pick up Tom DeLonge's new LP of unreleased demos & decipher which ones were originally recorded for an AVA album! https://itunes.apple.com/…/to-stars...-demos-od…/id979423810"". Facebook.com/AngelsAndAirwaves. Angels and Airwaves.
  5. ↑ DeLonge, Tom. "Tom DeLonge on Twitter - "Limited Edition Art Prints, Shirts and Vinyl from.... Well... Me :) http://shop.tothestarsinc.com/index.php?cPath=34_41"". Twitter.com/TomDeLonge. Tom DeLonge. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (February 1, 2015). "Is Tom DeLonge teasing songs that were meant to be for Blink-182?". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ Crane, Matt (February 19, 2015). "Tom DeLonge will release new Blink-182 demos March 1". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (February 28, 2015). "Tom DeLonge to release Blink-182 demos, more on new album, 'To The Stars'". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  9. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (March 22, 2015). "Tom DeLonge Maps Out Massive 2015 Plans, Details Blink-182 Rift". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  10. ↑ Carley, Brennan (March 10, 2015). "Tom DeLonge Lashes Out at Insecurities on Solo Single, 'New World'". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ Blistein, Jon (March 24, 2015). "Tom DeLonge Goes Acoustic on New Song 'The Invisible Parade'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (April 7, 2015). "Tom DeLonge revisits his roots with possible Blink-182 demo, 'Circle-Jerk-Pit'". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  13. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (April 21, 2015). "Tom DeLonge debuts video for possible Blink-182 demo, 'Circle-Jerk-Pit'". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 NME News Desk (April 2, 2015). "Former Blink-182 member Tom DeLonge shares symbolic video for 'New World'". NME. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ Stutz, Colin (April 2, 2015). "Watch Tom DeLonge Trash The Stage in 'New World' Video". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Tom DeLonge | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Tom Delonge Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Tom Delonge. Retrieved April 30, 2015.