The story of Illinois band American Football is a classic tale of emo breakups and internet reformation. Emerging in the late 90’s within an intriguing scene of rock music within Chicago (that also included the likes of frontman Mike Kinsella’s previous band Cap’n Jazz), American Football would release one self-titled album in 1999 shortly before disbanding to focus on other projects and their personal lives. Over time, this debut would grow in acclaim, and its cult status would lead it to be recognised as a titanic influence in modern math rock and Midwest emo music.

Reforming fourteen years later, they would release two more self-titled albums in 2016 and 2019, respectively. They held onto that math-y emo sound while also digging deeper into dreamy post-rock, matched with lyrics concerning adulthood, mental health, and haunting nostalgia.

Now American Football are gearing up to release their fourth record, and has released its first single, an eight-minute sprawl called ‘Bad Moons’

The track starts on more of an off-kilter note than one might expect from this band. Simple drum and piano loops swirl around for a little while, joined by a wistful bassline in a sound reminiscent of a group like Volcano Choir. When Kinsella starts singing, though, that post-reunion American Football feeling starts to bleed in.

“Surprise / I’m just two little boys in a trench coat with plastic knives”, he opens the song with, a simple line that demonstrates that balance of nostalgia and visceral imagery that their third album was full of. As the song kicks into gear, you wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking that ‘Bad Moons’ is just a simple continuation of that record's sound, but the track soon takes a bit of a left turn.

The instrumentation drops out, other than a simple bassline buzzing far in the back. As Kinsella sings frank but poetic lyrics about depression, the instrumentation is reintroduced into the mix. The song doesn't build back up again as much as it unfurls. As this middle section ends with “I didn’t exist in the dark / Until I found you in the dark”, the band blasts into a pounding swirl of drums and droning guitar feedback. Even as the instrumentation begins to scale back for a more relaxed outro section, this instrumental final act is an emotional and bold entry point into this new era for the band.

The track comes accompanied by a music video, directed by Alex Acy and Rémi Belleville. Opening with black-and-white footage of snowball fights and ending with colour images of a boy crying in a woman’s arms, it’s full of striking imagery that encapsulates a lot of the emotions that modern American Football are so good at capturing in their music. At the very least, it works as a captivating short film that’s worth a watch if you enjoyed the track.

American Football’s new self-titled album is set to release May 1st 2026, via Polyvinyl.