Indie-pop queer girl quartet The Aces just dropped their brand-new single “Always Get This Way,” and it is equal parts a melodic poppy jam and a heartbreaking story a lot of us can relate to. If you’ve been following them since their breakout album When My Heart Felt Volcanic with their alternative hit “Stuck,” there’s even better news. The band are dropping their third studio album on June 2, I’ve Loved You For So Long. Yes, indie girlies, it’s time for you to scream because you can pre-order it right now and check out the new track below. (If you’ve never heard of the band before, they are perfect for fans of Hayley Williams, COIN, and Maude Latour.)
Lead singer Cristal Ramirez tells Her Campus, “I was in the worst mental state of my life when we wrote ‘Always Get This Way.’ Filled with anxiety, and having panic attacks almost every night, it took everything in me to make the 45-minute drive to the studio that day. I was just there to make something. I was just there to feel better.”
Cristal shares that her sister and bandmate also helped her explore those feelings. “Alisa [Ramirez], as she always has been, was a strong voice encouraging me to explore how I was feeling through a song. At first, I was hesitant and embarrassed, but pretty soon ‘Always Get This Way’ was unraveling quickly through the speakers.”
“This song is about shame, panic, and struggle. It’s about the fact that we hold no space for those struggling mentally in our society, and we just kind of wish they’d get over it and quit being an inconvenience,” Cristal says. “It was the song that felt like it granted us permission to make what would become our upcoming album. It’s one of the most vulnerable songs I’ve ever written.”
Along with the heart-wrenching, relatable track, the band also shared a full trailer for what’s to come on their third album I’ve Loved You For So Long. Cristal recounts how she keeps mentally revisiting her past as a teenage queer girl growing up in a religious suburb of Utah. “This album is about reconnection,” the trailer says. “Things have never been more clear than when we look back.” Warning, this vid might just make you tear up, because it def hit me in the feels.
While you wait for their new album to drop this summer, you can revisit their 2020 masterpiece Under My Influence featuring beloved hits “Daydream” and “I Can Break Your Heart Too.”
Plus, if you’re near Boston in May, you def have to catch their set at Boston Calling on May 27. Stay tuned to their socials for upcoming tour announcements and merch drops.