O.A.R. has kept fans on their toes for months while they anxiously await news of the highly anticipated new album, The Mighty — including news of when exactly it would drop. The band from Rockville, Maryland, has teased new tracks all year, and is still out on their national “Just Like Paradise” tour.
Fans speculated that an announcement about the new album would come sometime while the guys were on the road. The Mighty will be the band’s newest album since XX in 2016, and the tenth album overall, for a band that saw their first ever gig take place at a high school talent show. O.A.R., short for Of A Revolution, sat down with Billboard to reveal when the album would be released, and what fans can expect from it.
“I started the project a few months ago and have been chipping away at it here at my studio (in New York), as opposed to renting a house somewhere and finishing the whole thing in a month or two. That’s made it easier. It’s better stretching out over the course of the year — writing, recording, releasing a single, taking time with every single aspect of it and not being rushed ’cause of budgetary restraints. It’s been much more relaxed,” O.A.R. frontman Marc Roberge told Billboard . That stretch will finally end in March of 2019.
While on tour, O.A.R. wowed sold-out crowds with a preview of the new single, “Miss You All The Time,” which now has an accompanying video. The heart wrenching song, written by Roberge, had fans feeling emotional over its melancholy lyrics. Roberge told Billboard that he was inspired to write the song after failing to reconnect with an old friend who met a tragic end, and by another friend who passed away shortly thereafter.
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“We just could never connect, and I don’t know that I was making the ultimate effort to connect. And then one night, tragically, he was (killed) defending a stranger from being harassed by somebody. I realized that when people are reaching out like that, trying to connect, you need to call them back ’cause you never know when you won’t be able to talk to them anymore,” Roberge confessed in the interview.
The current tour, which will end in December, won’t be the last time that the band shares songs from The Mighty on the stage. They’re planning a separate tour to promote the upcoming album for 2019.
“There are a couple options on the table, trying to figure out what’s the best way to get this to the most cities. I’m just excited people still want to come out and see us. That’s still what drives us the most,” Roberge added.
