Following a few weeks of advance hype behind Bilmuri’s new “ALWAYS LET YOU DOWN” single with A Day to Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon, the pair have finally cranked off the collaborative track for the fanbase.
The song once again has Bilmuri merging gargantuanly metallic triplet-jud riff-outs with sugar-sweet vocal hooks, he and McKinnon running through lines about wasted years and emotional fallout (“Tell me you don’t want me around”).
The bonkers music video has the pair swingin’ swords and dueling in front of a bunch of Medieval Times-lovin’ ‘Muricans, notably as both are donning Stars-and-Stripes-adorned sets of body armor. Ahead of its premiere, Bilmuri gassed up the clip in an Instagram post, noting that the project has “been on a bit of a run as far as music videos are concerned but this music video… is our best work to date.”
Bilmuri began teasing the tune, which will appear on his upcoming KINDA HARD LP, last month. He’d previously explained in another IG post that the ADTR crossover came up one day before he hit a Nashville, Tennessee, recording studio to write with Sasha Sloan and Wage War’s Cody Quistad. Before that, though, he had to hit some lifts.
“My manager, Jameson, and I like to go to the gym, get a little pump beforehand,” he explained. “I’m looking across the vast sea of weights, and I see Jeremy from A Day to Remember. I’ve never met him before, but I we kind of both lock eyes. I get up from doing a set, and he’s walking towards me, and I’m just pumped because I’m happy to meet him — I’ve never met him, but we’ve known about each other for such a long time.
“We chat and get to know each other and ask about tour plans and all that stuff, and then he leans into me and he’s like, ‘If you ever need any help writing, let me know’… I was like, ‘Dude, we’re writing in 30 minutes if you’d like to come by!’”
This first resulted in a song called “Back Then,” which will also appear on KINDA HARD. The plot twist is that Bad Omens’ Noah Sebastian blew up Bilmuri’s phone that same day to let him know that he was in town, and ultimately showed up for the sessions.
“Noah rolls through, and it’s just, like, 20 years of metalcore sitting in a room,” he recalled. “So, I kind of look around at all the boys, and I was like, ‘Are we cooking another song?’”
“It’s one of my favorite songs on the record,” he continued. “And if I never went to the gym that day, this song never would have happened.”
As previously reported, KINDA HARD is due out April 4th via Columbia Records and available for pre-order on clear vinyl and on CD in Revolver’s Shop.
Bilmuri will be touring behind the release throughout the spring, summer and fall. His next leg of North American dates begins April 17th at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado. You’ll find the rest of the date info here.