The Used release new album ‘Toxic Positivity’

May 19, 2023 – Rock icons The Used have released their highly anticipated tenth studio album, Toxic Positivity via Big Noise. Over 20 years into their career, Toxic Positivity is everything fans have come to know and love from The Used – straightforward, in-your-face, destructive, and vulnerable all at once. Working together with longtime friend and collaborator John Feldmann to produce the album, Toxic Positivity is filled with The Used’s signature sound, earworm hooks and erratic riffs.

Fans can stream Toxic Positivity now at https://theused.ffm.to/toxicpositivity

Described as a “day-in-the-life journey of a depressed, anxiety-ridden person” by vocalist Bert McCracken, the tell-all record shares the highs and lows of depression and addiction through a cohesive body of work, speaking to the ever-changing headspace that he was experiencing at the time of writing. “This record is quite tough for me to listen to,” he adds, “because it’s a reflection of times in my life that have been some of my lowest ever.”

Absorbed front-to-back in its finished form, Toxic Positivity pulls from every facet of The Used’s definitive sound. There’s the buzzsaw riff of “Pinky Swear (Save Me)”; the sweeping, arena-sized chorus of “Headspace”; the riveting hooks of “The Worst I’ve Ever Been”; and the underlying pop sensibilities of “I Hate Everybody.” Displaying a depth of sonic variety while never allowing an inch of slack into its taut cohesiveness, this is the past, present, and future of The Used represented in 11 tracks that combined barely break the half-hour mark.

Toxic Positivity Tracklist

1. Worst I’ve Ever Been

2. Numb

3. I Hate Everybody

4. Pinky Swear

5. Headspace

6. Cherry

7. Dopamine

8. Dancing With a Brick Wall

9. Top of the World

10. House of Sand

11. Giving Up

The Used will be returning to the Troubadour in Los Angeles this Saturday, May 20, for the first time since 2020. To celebrate the release of Toxic Positivity, The Used will be playing an intimate sold-out show with special guests FELICITY.

For as long as he can remember, McCracken has used music as an outlet to lay bare his innermost thoughts and emotions. For 23 years, that writing has enabled The Used to deeply resonate with fans the world over. Exploding off the back of universally adored rock anthems such as “The Taste Of Ink,” “Take It Away” and “Pretty Handsome Awkward,” the many millions of streams and record sales (including the platinum-certified The Used and In Love And Death) their career has yielded are one thing; the human connection formed between artist and audience is priceless, however. To that end alone, The Used can consider themselves four of the luckiest and richest men in music.

Toxic Positivity speaks of the strength of the band’s collective collaboration and also their innate, unquenchable thirst to create. “I think we have no choice but to write and write and write,” says McCracken. “It has always just been in us, and we’ve had to get it out. I read a quote once that said you either work your entire lifetime on four great pieces, or you write thousands of pieces and become great that way. Everything that we feel, I think it always makes for a good song.”

In that regard, McCracken is humble to a fault, for the simple fact that the songs within Toxic Positivity are far more than merely good songs. They mark the latest chapter in a truly great career. And, like those that have come before them, they will truly matter.

Next week, The Used is hitting the road with Pierce The Veil on the Creative Control Tour. The epic co-headliner kicks off on May 23rd in Austin, TX, making stops across the U.S. and Canada in Tampa, Toronto, Baltimore, New York, Grand Rapids, Irvine, and more before wrapping up in Phoenix, AZ on July 2nd with support from Don Broco, Deathbyromy (5/23 – 6/10), and girlfriends (6/12 – 7/1). For a full list of tour dates and more details on how to purchase tickets, please visit https://theused.net/

The Used is Bert McCracken (Vocals), Jepha (Bass), Dan Whitesides (Drums) and Joey Bradford (Guitar).

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Photo Credit: Anthony Tran

Creative Control Tour Dates

May 20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour (SOLD OUT)

May 23 – Austin, TX – HEB Center @ Cedar Park^+ (SOLD OUT)

May 24 – New Orleans, LA – The Fillmore Harrah’s New Orleans^+ (SOLD OUT)

May 26 – Tampa, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa^+ (SOLD OUT)

May 27 – Boca Raton, FL – Mizner Park Amphitheatre^+ (SOLD OUT)

May 28 – St Augustine, FL – The Saint Augustine Amphitheater^+ (LOW TICKET WARNING)

May 30 – Atlanta, GA – Coca Cola Roxy^+ (SOLD OUT)

May 31 – Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium^+

June 2 – Toronto, ON – RBC Echo Beach^+

June 3 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion^+ (SOLD OUT)

June 5 – New York, NY – The Rooftop @ Pier 17^+ (SOLD OUT)

June 6 – Richmond, VA – Virginia Credit Union LIVE!^+

June 7 – Wallingford, CT – Toyota Oakdale Theatre^+ (SOLD OUT)

June 9 – Philadelphia, PA – Skyline Stage @ The Mann^+ (SOLD OUT)

June 10 – Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena^+

June 12 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summer Stage^# (SOLD OUT)

June 13 – New York, NY – The Rooftop @ Pier 17^# (SOLD OUT)

June 15 – Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Center^# (SOLD OUT)

June 16 – Moon Twp, PA – UPMC Events Center^#

June 17 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center^#

June 19 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live @ 20 Monroe^# (SOLD OUT)

June 21 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center^# (SOLD OUT)

June 22 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee^# (SOLD OUT)

June 24 – Dallas, TX – So What?! Music Festival*

June 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex^# (LOW TICKET WARNING)

June 29 – Reno, NV – Grand Theatre @ The Grand Sierra Resort^# (SOLD OUT)

July 1 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre^# (SOLD OUT)

July 2 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre^# (SOLD OUT)

September 10 – Alton, VA – Blue Ridge Rock Festival*

* Festival Appearance

^ w/ Don Broco

+ w/ Deathbyromy

# w/ girlfriends