"I Am a Nightmare" is a single by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Brand New, released on 17 May 2016. The song was released as a digital download, with a

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

made available to preorder online. The single has been described by the band as being from their "upcoming release", with Lacey previously commenting in 2015 that he was unsure what format the new material would be delivered in. ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

'' awarded it ''Best New Track'', praising Lacey for writing his most instantaneous hook in over a decade, whilst proclaiming that when the band announce their fifth album it would "break the internet".

Background

Frontman Jesse Lacey had previously commented to various media outlets that recording their previous record ''Daisy'', the band felt as though they had reached "the end of the road" musically, and that their next record would likely involve backtracking and looking for another route they could have possibly taken. Before releasing new material the band also looked to develop the infrastructure around them, building their own Black Site Studio, as well as expanding their record label, Procrastinate Music Traitors. After releasing an older track "Mene" in 2015, the band discussed that whilst "Mene" did not entirely represent their new material, they had been writing more melodic and catchy music, with Lacey keen to avoid repeating the more exhausting and complicated songwriting formulas found on their previous album, ''Daisy''.

Release

On 17 May 2016, a number of music news outlets reported that Brand New would be releasing a new track on 20 May 2016, with a 30-second sample made available through

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. The band's longtime collaborator and producer, Mike Sapone also teased the track through his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page. Later on 17 May the song was made available, with the band and their label Procrastinate Music Traitors announcing that the single was available to stream and download immediately, with a 12-inch vinyl single available to preorder, with an expected release date of June 2016. The track was debuted live at Vogue Theatre in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

on 1 June 2016, the first night of their Canadian tour. On August 12, 2016, the track reached #1 in the United Kingdom

Official Vinyl Singles Chart The Official Vinyl Singles Chart is a weekly record chart in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. It lists the top 40 most popular singles in the vinyl format each week. The chart, ...

, with previous single "Mene" taking the #2 position.

Packaging

The artwork and packaging were created by Morning Breath Inc., who previously contributed towards the packaging of '' Daisy'' and '' The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me''. The 12-inch black record features the song's lyrics etched into the b-side. A circular sticker of gradient rainbow color exists upon the front cover which appears to be a false-color image of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather ...

, which when peeled away reveals an image of the emission-line star known as

IRAS 12196-6300 The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (Dutch: ''Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet'') (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 January 1983, its mission lasted ten mont ...

Personnel

;Brand New *

Jesse Lacey Jesse Thomas Lacey (born July 10, 1978) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the American alternative rock band Brand New. He is known for his enigmatic a ...

- vocals, guitar, production * Vincent Accardi - vocals, guitar, production * Garrett Tierney - bass, production * Brian Lane - drums, percussion, production ;Production *

Mike Sapone Mike Sapone is an American record producer, composer, audio engineer, and mixer, whose credits include producing records for bands such as Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Boston Manor, The Front Bottoms, Mayday Parade, Grouplove, Sorority Noise, ...

- production * Vince Ratti - mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Brand New (band) songs Songs written by Jesse Lacey