Blueprint Tokyo drops ‘Dark New Days’ EP

From their base in Oklahoma City, Blueprint Tokyo have spent the last few years building a version of indie rock unlike any other. Their music pairs synth-lit energy with emotional punch, finding room for bright hooks, widescreen atmosphere and moments of contemplation while nodding to influences such as Two Door Cinema Club, Walk the Moon and The Cure.

The project initially began as a duo between founding members Kevin Dawson and Andy Hale before gradually expanding into a five-piece band setup. That growth also mirrors the way their sound has developed over time with their early foray into melodic rock have blooming into something more layered and cinematic. Today, Blueprint Tokyo make songs that can soundtrack a moment of reflection just as naturally as they can ignite a packed room.

Their songs often revolve around endurance, repetition and the act of continuing when circumstances suggest otherwise. They write about saying something again because it still matters, about waiting for difficult seasons to pass and trusting that they eventually will, ultimately carrying a sense of hope that feels tested, worn in and earned. That perspective became even more pronounced when the group’s early momentum was interrupted by a life-changing diagnosis for co-founder Kevin Dawson. The setback forced Blueprint Tokyo into hiatus but when he recovered, the project returned with new energy and sharpened emotional focus.

The single “Panic Carefully” crystallised that return in 2021, opening a new chapter and starting a momentum that carried into the EPs A Whole New Life and Cinema Sounds. Last year, the band delivered their most emphatic statement thus far with Neon Circuits and the Mission of Hope, a critically acclaimed sixteen-track full-length released through Spectra Music. Now Blueprint Tokyo return with Dark New Days, a brand new six-track EP that feels informed by everything they’ve lived through and learned so far.

Lead single “Orange Tiger” sets up the release with a dreamy blend of airy piano notes and soft bass tones before the taps of hi hat and plucks of lead guitar roll into a lightly driving indie rock scene. Above muted electric guitar, sweeping vocal leads drift as the swell of energy rises and falls with moments of surging instrumentation and passages of melodic bliss forming a wholly absorbing listening experience.

“Here’s Your Story” jumps straight into a brooding soundscape of bouncing drums and gripping guitars as belted vocals ring out above. At once dark and emotive, it’s a thoroughly engrossing outing brimming with charging energy and wrapped in consuming atmosphere, offering an arresting sound from start to finish.

Casting a moving sound on “Just Repeat Myself,” delicate instrumentation and tender vocals present a mellow arrangement before launching with crunching guitars and pounding drums to deliver an anthemic chorus. With “Change My Mind,” the band serves up a shifting indie rock sound where jittery rhythms, fuzzy bass tones, bright piano and subtly synth flourishes are capped by expressive vocals.

“Art of Betrayal” rolls with pulsing groove, offering poignant storytelling lyricism carried via instantly catchy melodic leads while the smooth ebb and flow sees the arrangement flicker with intricate vocal layers, rustling drums and soft synth elements. Closing the release with “Nite Valerie,” aching vocals hover above gentle piano notes before progressing through a stripped back arrangement of pattering percussion and mesmeric instrumentation to lay down a stunning finale to the band’s incredible new EP.

Commenting on the release, Andy Hale offers, “We didn’t sit down to make a record about any one thing. We made six songs that felt true and somewhere in the process realised they were all pulling in the same direction — that in-between space where you’re still moving and you don’t know yet how it lands. Every song on this record is about staying in something. A relationship, a feeling, a decision you made when things were harder. Not because you’re stubborn. Because you actually believe it. That’s a different thing and I think people can hear the difference.”

Listen to Dark New Days below