THE MAINE’S SURPRISE RELEASE “PARKING GARAGE SONG #5” IS ‘JOY NEXT DOOR’S’ MISSING PUZZLE PIECE
April 10th, 2026 saw the release of The Maine’s tenth studio album, Joy Next Door, to positive reviews. (You can check out my full review of Joy Next Door here.)
In the first slightly unusual move of the rollout, the band kicked off their headline tour in late March, slightly ahead of the album release. The energy since has been palpable; speaking on the More Or Less Podcast, the band mentions that this is their most attended tour, and that they themselves have felt the building momentum of this era.
After the initial release, and mid-tour, the band posted an incredibly cryptic message on their Instagram, teasing a midnight re-release of Joy Next Door with an additional track. Understandably, the comment section was a mess trying to decode what the band meant. The post clarified that this was not a deluxe or bonus release, but rather the finally completed form of Joy Next Door, having materialized through the course of the tour.
The final addition to the album is “Parking Garage Song #5,” now the eighth track, situated between “Quiet Part Loud” and “Die To Fall.” After 20 years of making music together, the band knows what they’re doing, and the decision to backtrack here was in fact the correct one. “Parking Garage Song #5” is in many ways the thesis of the album, and maybe even the entire band. And maybe, that’s why they could never finish it until the album was done. The band is making sense of nearing their 40’s, having lived a public life for two decades, and they are contending with the complex layers that come with this. There is simultaneously peace and unrest attached to settling down into the rhythm of life, and this is an ebb and flow woven throughout the tracks. There is a solid wisdom and knowledge that’s a little still frayed around the edges by fleeting youthful angst.
In three short minutes, the song changes its tune many times. It opens with a long note that evokes the visceral feeling of clutching a red solo cup alongside your best friends watching the hours fly by, and knowing the hangover will have been worth it. The vocals start out with only O’Callaghan’s voice and an acoustic guitar, as he sings “It’s nice to feel small again.” The song, dripping with nostalgia, adds a new depth to the album.
The first instrumental break is a sonic callback to some of their earliest music. It immediately sounded very similar to their breakout 2009 song “Into Your Arms,” with piano-driven melodies and bell accents that create an expansive texture. The song is bright with the faintest twinge of sadness. When the instrumentals drop out before the second chorus, it makes it all the more powerful to hear “let’s stumble around on a memory lane for tonight.”
The band released a music video, (they’ve been cranking them out this era) and if you’re not deep into the lore of The Maine it’d be easy for it all to go over your head. If you’re vaguely familiar with the band, you may have heard of ‘8123.’ That number is the title of their headline music festival, label, fan club, and it appears in their stage setups and all over their social media. ‘8123’ means whatever you want it to mean in your connection to the band, but mostly it represents community.
While it may seem like a random set of numbers, it’s actually the address where the band used to hang out in their earliest days in their hometown of Tempe, Arizona. What’s at that address, you ask? A parking garage. The same one where O’Callaghan sings along, alone while greyscale home videos of the band in their decades-long adventure together play out.
The power in the song lies in that it hits even if you don’t understand how deep the roots run. It possesses both mass appeal and an unbelievably niche experience. “Parking Garage Song #5” is undoubtedly Joy Next Door’s missing final puzzle piece. It’s a love letter to themselves, their community, and their art.