Platinum-selling Newcastle band Vacations have announced their long-awaited new album, No Place Like Home, will be released on January 12, 2024. The upcoming record follows an intense period of transformation for the lead singer Campbell Burns, who was diagnosed with Pure OCD (or “Pure O”), a subtype of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder marked by intrusive, unwanted, and uncontrollable thoughts. His experiences learning to live with this while touring the world informed the record, which also engages in nuanced discussions around personal growth and sexuality. He adds, “I found it extremely difficult to write anything for years. I didn’t know what Vacations’ voice was anymore, or even my own in a day-to-day sense. I had to find a way to fall back in love with music and so much else in my life, or I knew I would simply cease to exist.”
To celebrate the news, they share the blissful new single, “Close Quarters,” with dreamy vocals layered over surf rock guitars and a driving beat. When asked about the track, Campbell explains, “I was feeling burnt out from the music industry and touring, to the point where I wasn’t even sure what the project was anymore. Despite it all, I could never make a decision, even when it was on my mind all day. There was always that curiosity to see what could happen next, to see if my feelings would change. I came out the other side feeling more passionate than ever; it just took time for those feelings to pass as we entered a new era that involved a lot of growing pains. ‘Close Quarters’ is about that time just before feeling okay, where I felt like I wanted to burn everything and let it fade away.”
Following 2020’s Forever In Bloom LP, No Place Like Home finds the Newcastle DIY outfit comprised of Burns and bandmates Jake Johnson, Nate Delizzotti, and Joseph Van Lier, expanding their trademark melodic indie rock to new sonic horizons. The first Vacations record to be produced by Campbell Burns and an outside producer, John Velasquez (Zella Day, Broods), it comprises 10 shimmering tracks brimming with indie-pop hooks and just a touch of bittersweet sensitivity. “I had this loose concept of No Place Like Home being an Americana-influenced album,” Campbell says of the album’s sonic inspirations. “I wanted to incorporate more pianos, acoustic guitars, Nashville tuning, and country-inspired lap steel, but then also bringing in drum machines and synths and finding a mix between the two.” The album will also feature recent singles, “Terms & Conditions,” “Midwest,” “Next Exit,”.
Vacations is currently underway on their North American co-headline tour, TOURZILLA, with fellow Aussies and labelmates Last Dinosaurs, and support from Bathe Alone. They kicked off the tour with a raucous set at All Things Go Festival in DC and a sold-out show at Webster Hall in NYC. They will wrap the U.S. dates with a performance at the Novo in Los Angeles on November 12th. The tour follows two sold-out U.S. tours, including performances at Austin City Limits, Elsewhere (Hall), Meow Wolf, and The Fonda (1,200 cap), and a sold-out tour in the UK this past May, including a performance at The Great Escape.
A DIY affair from the get-go, the band Vacations formed in 2016 primarily as a songwriting vehicle for Campbell Burns, Burns later adding band members Jake Johnson, Nate Delizzotti, and Joseph Van Lier. Their song “Young” is certified Gold in Canada, Australia, and Poland, and was certified Platinum in the U.S. in early 2023. Their single “Telephones” is also certified Gold in the US, with the band racking up over 1 billion streams globally and over 2.2m Shazams.