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Here\u2019s one of the best press release leads I\u2019ve seen in a while: \u201cpink balloons<\/em> went pop, and now everything\u2019s in black and white.\u201d Ekko Astral, the Washington, D.C. punks who broke out with 2024\u2019s pink balloons<\/em>, have announced their sophomore album. It\u2019s called the beltway is burning<\/em><\/a>, and it\u2019s out April 22. The dancey, discombobulating lead single, \u2018lil xan goes to washington\u2019, comes paired with an Alec Pugliese<\/a>-directed music video. Check it out and find the album artwork and tracklist below.<\/p>\n \u201cIn times when Nicki Minaj is tight with the president, it feels right that Lil Xan becomes a lobbyist,\u201d the band\u2019s Liam Hughes said in a statement. \u201cThis song was pulled out of thin air in the studio while most of the album was written and ready to record beforehand. We only had the lyrics finished for this one. But once we started messing around, the music wrote itself in mintues, and we all knew we had something special.\u201d<\/p>\n Jael Holzman: \u201cWe always intended for the songs on this album to tell a fictional story based on real events. Some of this material dates back a decade to when Liam and I first met in college. But by the time we hit the studio, we had a feeling it would be more like a historical document.\u201d Holzman has also published a personal essay accompanying the announcement via Medium<\/a>.<\/p>\n The beltway is burning<\/em> was written and recorded by Holzman, Hughes, and Miri Tyler, who, as the band recently announced, is leaving the project. Featuring the previously released single \u2018Horseglue\u2019<\/a>, the album was produced by Jeremy Snyder and mastered by Carl Saff.<\/p>\n Revisit our Artist Spotlight interview with Ekko Astral.<\/a><\/p>\n