Tonight Alive are one of Australia’s most recent success stories. Touring the world with pop-punk heavyweights All Time Low as well as rock icons The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, the Sydney band have proved themselves to be the epitome of a modern rock group. Ahead of the release of their third album Limitless, frontwoman Jenna McDougall spoke to Forte about what’s in store for the new chapter of Tonight Alive.
Following up a recent performance at Gippsland’s UNIFY Gathering, Jenna explains how the band’s evolved sound has allowed them to play at such a festival and how humbling it was to be amongst such heavy hitters in the industry.
“To kind of be on the position that we were on the bill, but also to have the response that we did from the crowd,” she says.
“I’m sure, a lot of people may not have heard us or don’t own any of our music so it was really, really positive.”
Performing as a headliner on a massive stage, the band have created quite a name for themselves in the rock community but still plan to branch out to a bigger audience.
With the release of singles ahead of Limitless, including the very radio-worthy ‘Drive’, the band has been gaining momentum in the world of mainstream music. The release of Limitless proves it’s clear that Tonight Alive refuse to fit into a particular mould, in turn allowing them to grasp a wider audience.
“It was definitely unintentional, but it’s been a really exciting part about finding the new music,” explains Jenna. “I think our new sound is kind of challenging some people, but I think that’s a real positive thing and I think it is a great testament to what the band is about.”
It’s clear after one listen to Limitless the band hasn’t boxed themselves into any genre. The band is well known within the pop-punk community, but Jenna explains that the release of Limitless represents the group’s evolution and in turn, being able to break out of any label placed on the band.
“I never felt like we belonged to anything or anywhere, but pop-punk was kind of the title that Tonight Alive carried and were given,” she says.
“You start growing up, every corner of your life you start making different choices, and I almost feel like being in high school listening to punk, emo and rock, that’s the safe place for people.”
Tonight Alive’s music has proven to become a safe place for fans all over the world thanks to the band’s notable energy and their empowering and honest lyricism. The band’s 2013 release The Other Side resonated with fans across the world for its brutal honesty, and it’s easy to say the new record emulates that same approach.
“I think the fans that have been here for our music and for what it truly is, will not see Limitless as something so different.”
Limitless is flooded with the concepts of freedom and breaking away throughout every track, and the band only hopes that this message with be understood to anyone who hears it.
“Our intention is not to leave anybody behind. It’s only to inspire people, to move freely and as most expressively as they can,” she says.
“It’s the tone that we want to set for our lives, and encourage other people to live it as well.”
Written by Meg Kennedy
Release: Limitless is available March 4