Tokyo Police Club TPC Vinyl

Tokyo Police Club has announced their first full-length album in four years, TPC. TPC is self-titled, almost, because it's Tokyo Police Club circa 2018—scarred but smarter, fully re-energized.

If the universe had tilted the tiniest bit, there would be no TPC. All in different cities, Tokyo Police Club created songs via e-mail, thinking they had enough natural chemistry and experience to make that setup work. But eventually it meant there was less musical spark, and it dawned on everybody that the end was near. There was resignation when Wright, Alsop, and Hook told Monks they were done with the band. They didn't expect him to disagree… but Monks said this: "Fuck no."

"Let's make this band feel like a band we would want to be in again," Monks implored his bandmates. "Let's make it about being present for the moments that are important more than about being devoted to some rock stardom fantasy. We at least gotta go make Abbey Road first, and go out with a bang"

As the old proverb—or maybe it's a Joni Mitchell song—goes: You don't know what you've got 'til it's (almost) gone. After putting aside the idea of splitting up and back-burnering their commercial expectations, there was just one thing left to do: go to church – specifically a church in rural Ontario, where the foursome could recapture the energy of their early years by playing in a room together. At the church, the songs and energy started to flow like they're supposed to, like they used to, and any lingering doubt was quickly subsumed by joy.

When it came time to take these songs in to the studio, everyone felt there was only one person who to capture that energy on tape – producer Rob Schnapf, whom the band worked with on 2010's Champ. They convened at his Eagle Rock, Los Angeles studio this winter and in a matter of weeks had the album they wanted.