We Can Finally Say ‘Sorry, The Chainsmokers are Back!’
It’s been two years since The Chainsmokers have dropped a new album, but we can finally announce: sorry, they’re back.
Tristan Green
It’s been two years since The Chainsmokers have dropped a new album, but we can finally announce: sorry, they’re back. In an apologetic new announcement, The Chainsmokers have shared that they have returned with a new upcoming album, and they haven’t lost a step in their time away. The beloved dance music superstar duo has been on hiatus since 2019, but it’s all over now and they wanted you to know.
Sorry, The Chainsmokers are Back
The announcement reads, “Sorry, The Chainsmokers are back.” But they can save the apology because we’re all pretty excited. The duo released a satirical video announcing the return that you have to watch to appreciate. It bills itself as a “behind the scenes” making of the album, but there’s a funny twist.
In the video, two actors are hired by a record exec to pretend to be The Chainsmokers, for the cheeky reason that, “nobody really knows what they look like.” The actors say, “we’re back baby! It’s us: The Chainsmokers!” Backstage behind a photoshoot of the new “Chainsmokers,” the exec speaks with someone who says, “It feels like something’s changed.” The exec replies, “We had to replace the original guys because they took two f–king years to make an album!”
In the video, the Chainfauxers live it up the way they expect superstar musicians to live, like getting Faberge eggs delivered, riding wheelie shoes around the generous house they now live in, giggling while high on ‘shrooms, and tearing it up in the recording room while hammered off their rears. They burn benjamins and take a crack at some of the real duo’s best songs, but the pressure becomes too much. In the end, the press of fame drives them to quit.
Bereft of his Plan B, the exec calls the real pair – Alexander Pall and Andrew Taggert – to tell them it’s time to work something out.
And so – they’re back.
2-Year Hiatus
While it’s clear there was no real Chainfauxers conspiracy and there’s just been some time off for the duo, what’s real about the video is the end, they really are back. Their new single, “High,” which can be heard in part behind the video announcing their return, is due out any day, and we’re ready to hear it drop.
In the meantime we have been wondering like everyone else: what have the Chainsmokers – the real ones – been up to for two years? In February of 2020, the pair announced a hiatus. The plan was to focus on the next chapter in their music-making, and as all artists know that takes as long as it takes.
While on hiatus, they completed their fourth album and occasionally dropped in on social media to tease fans – but the wait is finally over.
The Chainsmoker History
The group has its roots all the way back in 2012. In the beginning, the duo was made up of Pall and a different second – DJ Rhett Bixler. At the time, Taggart was at Syracuse University and interning with Interscope Records when he heard that a new dance duo had an opening after Bixler left. They met and of course the rest was history.
In 2013, The Chainsmokers as we know them released their first single – a remix of “Medicine” by Daughter – and it was an instant hit. Their first hit to fly to the stratosphere was of course the well-known “Selfie,” released in late 2013. Dim Mak Records – owned by Steve Aoki – re-released it in early 2014 and it took off internationally.
Since then, the duo has lived a whirlwind of hit songs, festivals, live performances and growth. They have an unmistakable sound and a grasp for music that transcends expectations – it brings what is together with what could be.
Songs like, “Don’t let me down,” and other mega-hits have earned the duo three Grammy nominations and two awards. In just 10 years they’ve grown from just starting to one of the most popular EDM/dance DJs out there. It’s just not an event if you don’t have The Chainsmokers. They’ve already returned to performing in front of audiences again, at XS Nightclub in Wynn Las Vegas, and they’re slated for dozens more performances throughout 2022. They also took the stage at MDLBEAST Soundstorm in Saudi Arabia in December. Getting back in front of fans after two years is just the kind of shot of adrenaline performers like Taggart and Pall need. We listen to their music, but what they hear is the siren call of creativity bringing them back to us.
“High” will be dropping any day now – so keep your eyes peeled.