Japandroids’ Fate & Alcohol marks both a homecoming and a leap forward. Written partly during their 2017 tour, the album captures the same raw intensity that first ignited the duo - drummer-vocalist David Prowse and guitarist-vocalist Brian King - while pushing their sound into new terrain. Nearly two decades in, they remain a band defined by chemistry, by the electric connection they forged back in their University of Victoria days.

Since 2006, the pair have carved out their place in indie rock. Their early days were fueled by a shared passion for bands like Wolf Parade and Constantines, whose earnest, heart-on-sleeve approach became a guiding light for Japandroids. It wasn’t long before the world outside of Vancouver took notice. Their scrappy debut Post Nothing gained critical acclaim in 2009, but it was 2012’s Celebration Rock that hit it out of the park. Festival stages and late-night shows followed, and soon the duo was headlining iconic venues like Massey Hall, an accomplishment that seemed unimaginable back when they were jamming in Vancouver dive bars.

Their new album, recorded with longtime collaborator Jesse Gander, brings them back to the essence of what makes Japandroids tick. The energy and spontaneity that characterized their early work is all there, but so is a sense of reflection, tempered with experience and a few more miles under their belts. Lead single "Chicago" captures that balance perfectly, with its driving momentum and infectious hooks.

“On Fate & Alcohol, we went back to the basics,” says King. “Before we even stepped into the studio, we made sure every song ripped in the jam space.” The result is a collection of tracks that merge the youthful abandon of their early records with the storytelling depth of 2017’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life. You can hear it in songs like “D&T” and “Fugitive Summer,” where moments of pure catharsis meet a heavier, more self-aware tone.

Japandroids have always thrived on living in the moment, but as King puts it, Fate & Alcohol doesn’t just embrace the night, it acknowledges the morning after. It’s an album about reckoning with the consequences of the wild ride, about the choices that linger long after the amps have been turned off. This is evident in tracks like “Positively 34th Street,” a bittersweet highlight that’s a testament to the enduring bond between Prowse and King.

For Japandroids, their connection remains the heart of everything. “I think it’s a lot like love,” says Prowse. “Not everybody gets to have a musical connection like we have, and I feel incredibly lucky.” Nearly 20 years in, Fate & Alcohol feels like a gift to fans, a reminder of why Japandroids have always been the band that plays like it could all end in an instant. Because for them, that urgency has always been part of the magic.