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New Song: Nada Surf, 'When I Was Young'

Your older sibling probably remembers New York rock trio Nada Surf as the perennial MTV staple whose hit "Popular" remains, 15 years later, the single most useful piece of romantic advice we received growing up. But the group has hardly rested on their laurels since then, releasing a steady stream of critically acclaimed albums. We've got their latest track "When I Was Young," which draws on youthful nostalgia and its relation to growing up.

"When I Was Young" opens with delicate guitars, and singer Matthew Caws intimately singing about his younger days. As the track builds in intensity, the song illustrates the carefree nature of most childhoods and the realization that as you get older, you simultaneously are forced to make serious decisions and cede control of certain aspects of your life. Serious stuff. As Caws sings the chorus of "When I was young/I didn't know if I was better off asleep or up/Now I've grown up/I wonder, what was that world I was dreaming of?" over a pop-rock bed, you can hear the acceptance-tinged nostalgia in his voice.

For their first album in two years, the group worked in member Daniel Lorca's Williamsburg, Brooklyn, loft nicknamed "The Sitcom" because, as the band noted in an official statement, it "regularly hosts a revolving cast of colorful characters and some legendary parties." The band wouldn't elaborate, but you can at least hear the fruits of their labor below.

Nada Surf's latest, The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, is out Jan. 24 on Barsuk Records.

+ Listen to Nada Surf's "When I Was Young."

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