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New Found Glory Single Might Be About Love, But Video's All Action

'It's Not Your Fault' clip debuted Tuesday on 'TRL'; new LP drops September 19.

"There's nothing like a little afternoon session," Jordan Pundik declared recently. And he wasn't talking about a recording session.

Rather, the New Found Glory singer was referring to a different daytime deed, one that takes center stage in the band's Brett Simon (Good Charlotte, Sum 41)-directed video for "It's Not Your Fault," which debuted Tuesday (August 1) on "TRL."

"The video starts out with this couple [played by Teddy and Heidi of '8th & Ocean'] in bed having just got done doing what they were doing," Pundik explained with a wink. "And they get out without any clothes on, and it's them retracing their steps, picking up their clothes as they go along. And they're putting on their clothes throughout the whole video. And there's parts where we're in there too. Like me sitting on a bus stop bench singing a couple lines or in their apartment elevator, but pretending I don't see them. And they finally go back to this record store and their baskets are still there and they look at each other and walk in separate ways."

While the characters have apparently indulged in a random quickie, the song, at least to Pundik, is about a deeper relationship.

"I want people to think it's about whatever they want, but for me, it's about when you're in love with someone and you're away from them and you have an argument or a fight and it's over the phone, so you can't console them and it sucks," Pundik explained.

Although that might not sound like a typical New Found Glory song, "It's Not Your Fault" seems right at home -- no pun intended -- on their upcoming Coming Home (see [article id="1534322"]"New Found Glory Find A Home For New Release -- September"[/article]).

Since the release of 2004's angst-filled Catalyst, all five bandmembers have had children or gotten married or engaged, and the new album is a celebration of relationships clearer than anything the guys have written in the past.

"You don't have to think about what the songs are about -- in a good way," Pundik said. "I'm not comparing my band to the Beatles whatsoever, but their [early] records were simple songs about love and relationships, and people could relate to their songs because they understood what they were trying to say. That's what this record reminds me of. There's not weird metaphors. It's just straight up, wearing your heart on your sleeve."

New Found Glory wrote and demoed the album while living together at Malibu, California's Morning View house (where Incubus recorded their album of that name), which forced them to be away from their families -- hence the title Coming Home -- but more concentrated on the music.

"It was really relaxing and totally out of the norm for how we usually write, which is on tour, in the bus or in a dressing room," Pundik said. "We were so relaxed, and it kinda comes through on the record."

In between the kayaking, pool parties and late-night card games, New Found Glory jammed incessantly and were totally reinvigorated -- especially guitarist Chad Gilbert, who emerged for the first time as a lyric writer.

"I've always written all the music, and [guitarist] Steve [Klein] does the majority of the lyrics," Gilbert said. "But this time it's like, 'Why have I never been involved in every element?' I realized music is the most important thing to me and I love writing songs, and I think I had more to say in life. So Steve would come up with stuff, and I'd critique him. We challenged each other. I came into preproduction, and they were like, 'We don't like 'em,' whereas before, we just recorded everything."

The Morning View sessions -- yes, recording sessions -- were overseen by a variety of New Found Glory's friends, including Paul Miner of Death by Stereo, Warren Fitzgerald of the Vandals and Thom Panunzio, a Geffen A&R rep who has produced veterans from Bob Dylan to Tom Petty and eventually helmed Coming Home.

"He fell in love with one of our songs, and that was the time we were meeting with the regular guys, Howard Benson, Don Gilmore and these guys who have the same formula for every record," Pundik recalled. "Thom was like, 'Why don't I produce the record?' Which was cool, 'cause he hasn't done a full record in a long time. And we knew we could get some cool sounds, guitar-wise and stuff like that."

Coming Home is due September 19 and will be promoted with a headlining tour kicking off October 4 in Cincinnati (see [article id="1537340"]"New Found Glory Aren't Just Coming Home -- They're Coming To Your Town"[/article]).

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