Biography
Philadelphia rock and pop group Joy Again drew widespread attention far outside their hometown. Formed during their teenage years, the band moved restlessly across acoustic, electric, and electronic textures throughout an unpredictable catalog. Ten years on, their 2024 release Song and Dance—closest in form to a conventional album—appeared several months after the members revealed their decision to disband.
Sachi DiSerafino and Arthur Shea, the founding singer-guitarists, later added bassist Kieran Ferris, keyboardist Zachary Tyndall, and drummer Will Butera to complete the lineup. The core pair first connected at a boogie-boarding contest in New Jersey before strengthening ties through an online forum devoted to longboarding. Still high-school seniors, DiSerafino and Shea began shaping the material that became Forever in 2014. The resulting thirty tracks, each only a few minutes long, ranged from brief instrumental sketches to sharp garage-rock outbursts. The following year, the retro-rock pulse of “Looking Out for You” brought wider notice, eventually surpassing nearly half a billion streams. Two further EPs arrived: a spare, lo-fi self-titled set in 2017 and 2019’s Piano, which broadened the sound with brighter jangly guitars and unpredictable synth lines.
Activity persisted through and after the COVID-19 period. DiSerafino contributed songwriting and production to indie-rock band Wallows. A short-lived deal with Arista Records yielded the 2021 single “What Lovers Do,” while 2022 found the group sharing bills with Snail Mail and Clairo. Following a run of singles, Joy Again declared their breakup in spring 2024, folding recent recordings into Song and Dance, the first and final full-length album of their decade together.
Sachi DiSerafino and Arthur Shea, the founding singer-guitarists, later added bassist Kieran Ferris, keyboardist Zachary Tyndall, and drummer Will Butera to complete the lineup. The core pair first connected at a boogie-boarding contest in New Jersey before strengthening ties through an online forum devoted to longboarding. Still high-school seniors, DiSerafino and Shea began shaping the material that became Forever in 2014. The resulting thirty tracks, each only a few minutes long, ranged from brief instrumental sketches to sharp garage-rock outbursts. The following year, the retro-rock pulse of “Looking Out for You” brought wider notice, eventually surpassing nearly half a billion streams. Two further EPs arrived: a spare, lo-fi self-titled set in 2017 and 2019’s Piano, which broadened the sound with brighter jangly guitars and unpredictable synth lines.
Activity persisted through and after the COVID-19 period. DiSerafino contributed songwriting and production to indie-rock band Wallows. A short-lived deal with Arista Records yielded the 2021 single “What Lovers Do,” while 2022 found the group sharing bills with Snail Mail and Clairo. Following a run of singles, Joy Again declared their breakup in spring 2024, folding recent recordings into Song and Dance, the first and final full-length album of their decade together.
Albums
Singles
