Alternative rock group The Early November has released their new single “The Empress,” which was written about the struggling to overcome repeated setbacks and it serves as the opening track to band’s upcoming self titled album that sets the tone for a record fueled by frustration. While talking about “The Empress,” front man Ace Enders says: “This song is about how hard it is to hold it together sometimes.. we have to pretend a lot of the time to keep existing in the entertainment world. I can’t say enough how grateful I am.. but I also can’t say it’s been a walk in the park.”

The artist adds: “Emotionally I have been devastated many times, got back up to be knocked over again… and as a result, just kind of feel an unraveling of sorts almost all the time. This song is my inner struggle with overcoming that.”

Ever since forming in New Jersey in 2001, The Early November, now consisting of front man Enders and founding drummer Jeff Kumme, have constantly been striving to find the best and most definitive version of themselves. With this self-titled record, the seventh studio album of their career, the duo have come as close as is possible to doing so.

It is an album that ties the past, present and future all together that it marks what Enders calls a “period or exclamation point in our sentence.” It is not a new beginning but nevertheless something emphatic that signifies, in Enders’s words again, “a pivotal moment” for them both.