Irish punk band Flogging Molly have announced the release date for Anthem, their first studio album in five years. The band’s seventh record will be available to devour on September 9 of this year, but fans can get a little taste of this new Celtic punk era with their just-released single, ‘The Croppy Boy ‘98.’

Audio engineer Steve Albini, who worked on Flogging Molly’s debut and sophomore albums Swagger and Drunken Lullabies, has returned to work his hand on the new album. The Electrical Audio founder is widely known for his production on Nirvana’s In Utero and other iconic projects such as the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me.

The announcement arrived yesterday just as Flogging Molly kicked off the first leg of their co-headlining US tour in Indianapolis alongside The Interrupters. The band will make their way around the states until July 3, only to return for a second leg the same day as Anthem’s release.

Speaking about the record, Irish frontman Dave King stated, “We went back to the basics in a way that I don’t think we could have done if we hadn’t been playing together for over 20 years…For Flogging Molly, getting together and playing new songs is always the goal — and now we’re just getting excited to start playing these songs live and giving our fans a whole new era of Flogging Molly.”

In conversation with King back in 2020, the Flogging Molly frontman reminisced on a then-recent show at Dublin’s Academy, sharing, “Between me and the whole band, we were like, 'That was one of the best gigs we’ve ever fucking played'. It absolutely went off the charts. It was amazing.” The vocalist also praised Albini’s talents, stating that the producer is “amazing to work with” because of his loose leash approach and respect for creative autonomy. King shared more about his hopes to tour with Fontaines D.C. at the time as well as why Flogging Molly likely wouldn’t be embarking on a US tour now if Trump had been re-elected – read more from King’s interview with Hot Press here.

‘The Croppy Boy ‘98’ is the second release from the punk group this year since they put out ‘These Times Have Got Me Drinking’ in March, before any sign of a possible record release. The music video for the new single was filmed much earlier this year during the band’s St. Patrick’s Day show at the Hollywood Palladium.

View the album art for Anthem on Flogging Molly’s new single, ‘The Croppy Boy ‘98’ below. Flogging Molly will perform at Vicar Street in Dublin on August 20 – some tickets still remaining here.