Neon Trees

If you’re going to something, do it with all you’ve got. That’s how Tyler Glenn approaches  everything, from making music to living authentically to creating welcoming spaces for those around him. It’s also a sensibility that’s evident on Neon Trees’ upcoming fifth studio album, slated for spring 2024. 

“Our last album came out during the pandemic, and it was a terrible time to put out an album,” Tyler says. “So I focused on what I could control. Most of us were out in orbit, spiraling, but writing music was something I could do. I wrote by myself, I wrote with other artists, and this collection of songs came from that. It taught me a valuable lesson in sticking with your gut. We could have released one-off singles or hopped on a trend, but as a band we’ve always done what we wanted to do and made the type of music we wanted to make. There’s a vein of honesty we’ve always evoked, but this album is as real and as honest as possible.”  

For Tyler, the new album reflects a state of mind felt by many during the pandemic, but it’s not necessarily specific to the past few years. Like all of Neon Trees’ work, the album reveals a balance between the dark and the light. 

“The question was, how do I capture that energy and that feeling of anxiety, but not make it solely about a period of time in our lives or make people only reflect on that when they listen?” Tyler says of the album. “The songs do contain some of the anxiety and existential crisis I was feeling, but there’s also a thread of hope. It’s not wrapped neatly in a bow at the end, but there’s still a hopefulness.” 

The album’s debut single, “Favorite Daze,” acts as a bridge between what Neon Trees has done on past albums and how they’ve since evolved. The track, which started as a poem, was a collaboration between Tyler and Joe Janiak. The song has a frenetic, fast-paced rock vibe with an anthemic chorus. “It was a perfect entry point because it sounds like something classic you would hear from us, but then the chorus explodes into a more modern, slicker vibe that we haven’t always played with,” Tyler explains. “It feels like something new. But I’m also being really specific and explicit in the lyrics. I’m speaking honestly and directly to the listener, and I want them to feel that—not just on this song, but on the entire album.” 

Over the past few years, Tyler has embraced being completely honest, both with himself and with others. His 2016 solo album, Excommunication, allowed Tyler to grapple with growing up in the church and also being gay. In 2017, he and Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds started the LOVELOUD Foundation, which aims to bring communities and families together to help create the opportunity for unconditional love towards LGBTQ+ youth. The foundation hosts an annual festival in Salt Lake City, which expanded to D.C. and Austin in 2023.  

“We’re trying to do everything we can to change things with the tone of love,” Tyler says. “Love is a great unifier, and music is a great unifier. That’s always been Neon Trees’ mission as well. As a band we want to create a space where people can leave their problems at the door and have a good time. Everything we do is meant to feel like a community where everyone can be themselves. The more I become truly myself, the more resonant that is.” 

Since releasing their debut album, Habits, in 2010, Neon Trees have cemented themselves as a dynamic, engaging band who has consistently put in the work for over a decade. They’ve performed at major festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful and Bottle Rock, and opened for genre-spanning artists like My Chemical Romance, Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift, as well as headlined sold-out tours of their own. The band has amassed one billion streams and recently logged over 40 million views on TikTok, while garnering acclaim from Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and USA Today. With each subsequent release, Neon Trees have continued to push upward and onward.  

“We had success early on, but hopefully you’re always evolving,” Tyler says. “For me personally, that had a lot do with coming out as gay and taking a real look at the faith I was raised in. I wasn’t being myself, and it affected my relationships and the band. I had a great time burning it all down and rebuilding. That’s led to me being more honest and more open with the people in my life and the people who are listening to my music. Once you release a song it’s no longer yours—it belongs to the audience. With these songs in particular, I wanted to make sure that I was giving away a really honest snapshot and not a curated version of myself. Doing that heals me as much as it does the listener.”