The Hails to Release New Album DUCKPOND, Announce Fall Tour
The album was produced by Brandon Shoop, known for work with Role Model, Dijon and Junior Varsity.
The Hails have announced their sophomore album Duckpond, set for release on October 23 via ONErpm. The announcement comes alongside the release of new single 'Corruptor' and its official video, plus details of a headline fall tour.
Produced by Brandon Shoop (Role Model, Dijon, Junior Varsity), the new album marks a chapter for the band defined by being physically in the room together, despite band members being spread out across Miami, DC and Brooklyn. The Hails rented a house in South Florida last summer to build a space with the sole intention of writing and recording a cohesive body of work.
'We missed the creative spontaneity that comes only from playing in the same room with other people — a process that birthed our biggest songs 'Younger' and 'Stay,'' shared the band. 'For too long we were unable to create in this way and we felt creatively starved because of it.'
The new proximity and spontaneity with which they wrote meant that their day-to-day conversations became the basis of songs. Some tracks, like 'Corruptor,' deal with the trials and tribulations of long-term romance. Frontman Robbie Kingsley was moved by the at-the-time recent passing of Brian Wilson to inject a three-part vocal harmony into the bridge of the song. Reminiscent of 90's Britpop and even early aughts UK bands like The Fratellis or Supergrass, 'Corruptor' is described as The Hails at their dancefloor finest.
'The lyrics were written in one fell swoop on the final day of recording after a tiff with my girlfriend (now fiancé) about how I wasn't giving her enough attention and affection during our elongated trip,' remembers Kingsley. 'It's a realization that I was being neglectful and coming to grips with the fact that I always want to be able to wake up in her perfect world, therefore I should start finding the time and putting my energy towards her.'
With the landlord at the door demanding rent, The Hails get back to work in the official video for 'Corruptor,' directed by Steven Konnovitch x Cultivision. Continuing the visual narrative of their last 2 videos, the band plays a gang of 1930s bowling pinsetters fighting against automation to hold onto their profession — a feeling described as not unfamiliar to an indie band in 2026.
Kicking off in October, The Hails will head out on their headline Duckpond Tour with highlights including Brooklyn, NY's Elsewhere (Oct. 29), Echoplex in LA (Nov. 14), and a return to their home state of Florida for shows in Miami (Nov. 20) and Tampa (Nov. 21). Ahead of the headline run, The Hails will open for Ax and the Hatchetmen across 7 shows.
So far from Duckpond, The Hails have released the singles 'Fool' and 'Story of You and Me.' The videos for each single feed into the larger storyline of the album about feeling antiquated for making something creative in the modern age.
Tracklist
1. Bad Habits
2. Fool
3. Story of You and Me
4. Digital Life
5. Pack It Up
6. Corruptor
7. Vegas, Idaho
8. Scampi
9. Necessary
10. Mahou
11. Timely
12. All By Design
13. The Party's Over
14. Ducks on the Pond
The Hails Live 2026
October 14 - Indianapolis, IN - HiFi Annex ^
October 15 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East ^
October 16 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt ^
October 17 - Charleston, SC - The Windjammer ^
October 19 - Jackson, MS - Duling Hall ^
October 20 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre ^
October 21 - Austin, TX - Mohawk - Outdoor ^
October 25 - Atlanta, GA - Purgatory at Masquerade
October 27 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
October 28 - Washington, DC - The Atlantis
October 29 - Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere - Hall
October 30 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
November 2 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
November 5 - Denver, CO - Marquis
November 7 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
November 10 - Seattle, WA - Barboza
November 11 - Portland, OR - Mission Theater
November 13 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop
November 14 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
November 16 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar
November 20 - Miami, FL - ZeyZey
November 21 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
^ supporting Ax and the Hatchetmen
About The Hails
Trying to make a living from art under late-stage capitalism can feel disillusioning at best, and farcical at worst. In the music videos for their second record, Duckpond (out October 23 via ONErpm), The Hails play a gang of 1930s bowling alley pinsetters, a job so long lost to automation that it feels like an obscure relic of another era — not far from what being a band in 2026 can feel like. That sense of obsolescence, and the more generalized malaise brought on by cost-of-living crises, miserable jobs and mind-numbing social media discourse, drove the writing of Duckpond. It's an album about not being satisfied — whether personally, professionally, or societally — with scraps.
The Hails — Robbie Kingsley (lead vocals), Franco Solari (guitar/keys/vocals), Dylan McCue (guitar) and Zach Levy (drums) — are a product of the University of Florida's college indie scene. In 2018, the single 'Younger' landed on Spotify's Fresh Finds playlist, breaking the band out of the Florida circuit and onto the national indie scene. Since then, they've toured extensively, supporting the likes of The Revivalists, Quarters and The Beaches and appearing at major festivals like Governors Ball, Ill Points and Okeechobee; meanwhile, they've racked up millions of streams, including 21M on 'Younger' and 40M on 'Stay'.
When COVID-19 struck, like so many other bands, The Hails' momentum was disrupted. The band members retreated into their separate spaces, sharing near-completed demos back and forth that would become their debut album, 2023's What's Your Motive. For Duckpond, the band wanted to recover the camaraderie and lightness that was lost in that process. They rented a house in South Florida for the summer, where long and freeing jam sessions started to become songs, just like in those early days.
In Duckpond, The Hails have created something that they can truly say they're proud of, no matter the stress and the pressure that is piled on by just trying to keep surviving as a band. 'I think this is as creatively vulnerable and liberated as we've been in a very long time,' McCue affirms. 'It was something that was created completely all together,' Kingsley adds. 'It really feels like this is truly what The Hails have to offer. This isn't what Robbie plus a few guys or Franco plus a few guys has to offer — this is what these collective guys known as The Hails are trying to offer together.'
Photo Credit: Andreo Otiniano
Photo Credit: Andreo Otiniano
