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Los Angeles quartet Dead Poet Society have released their long-awaited double single “Running in Circles” and “HURT” alongside a double feature music video. The tracks, which are the first new music from the group since 2021, come ahead of a month-long U.S. tour kicking off September 8 in Nashville and wrapping on October 9 in West Hollywood.  

Given the group’s distaste for most modern rock music, it’s no surprise that the new double single continues to challenge rock conventions. Sonically influenced by heavy acts like Royal Blood, modern pop artists like St. Vincent, and hip-hop artists like Tyler, the Creator, “Running in Circles” and “HURT” are examples of how the band continue experimenting and breaking genre conventions. 

“Running in Circles” opens with the combination of steady percussion and bass as vocalist Jack Underkofler sets the tone with the proclamation, “Feel like I’m never enough / I say I don’t give a fuck”. The track amplifies into the bridge as Underkofler belts, “I need to run away / Soon I’ll be just like the others / Hide my face / No one knows it’s pulling me under / Feels like I’m running, running, oh / Feels like I’m running in circles”. 

On the inspiration of the single, the band shares “‘Running in Circles’ explores the paranoid voices inside our heads. It’s about the struggle of being real with yourself - avoiding the ‘fake’. Sometimes, it feels impossible to avoid, It was written about not being true to yourself and the shame that follows.”

“HURT” displays the group’s lyrical prowess as they explore the sacrifice required for chasing their dream and the anxiety ridden self-doubt that results. The track opens with combative inner dialogue that will strike a chord for anyone who has dared to venture off the traditional path to chase a passion. Underkofler sings, “You need to get outta your head / You’re killing yourself again / You better get what you want / You only get one shot / You’re lighting yourself on fire / You know you aren’t going any higher / This is what you want but why? / You could have been just fine.”

Regarding this track, the band explain, “There’s not a lot in life that’s more gut-wrenchingly frustrating than trying desperately for years to build a career and having little to show for it. From living on floors and friends’ couches or out of your car, to working job after job just barely making ends meet, to going on tour and coming back with less money than you had before. We wrote this song as a symbol of that nagging doubt and insecurity. The doubt that consumes you and that can be triggered by people or events in your life, but more often than not, again it’s the voice inside your head.”

Check out Dead Poet Society’s double single and music video today and catch them on tour with Nothing More this fall.