There's something gloriously contradictory about brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch naming their fourth album 'Obsession' while operating in a world where attention spans have been whittled down to 20 second snippets. The Driver Era have created a record that demands you stick around – eleven tracks that skip between late-night hedonism and morning-after clarity with remarkable finesse.
Released today (Friday, 11th April), 'Obsession' represents the boldest evolution yet for the alt-pop duo. The album emerged from a collection of songs the brothers were, quite literally, obsessed with creating – pouring hours into each track with the kind of dedication that makes sleep optional and creativity essential. The result is striking, weaving electric riffs, rich synths and infectious rhythms into a soundtrack for life.
This isn't their first rodeo. With over 400 million global streams and a reputation for unmissable live shows, The Driver Era - former Dork cover stars, 'FYI' - have been steadily building their musical universe since 2018. But 'Obsession' marks a shift toward more introspective songwriting while refining their signature sound. It's music made by veterans who still approach each song with the excitement of newcomers.
As they prepare to take these songs on the road for their massive North American Obsession Tour, the album serves as both party starter and emotional compass – a collection that understands the value of fleeting moments while searching for something more permanent amid the chaos.
Check out our latest Artist’s Guide for Ross and Rocky’s own thoughts on the record, track by track.
You Keep Me Up At Night
Ross: I was about to scrap it. I said, "Guys, let's keep jamming." But Ellington and Rocky were like, "No, no, no, no, no." That's another song that goes into the themes of the album nicely. We're staying up late, and we're trying to soak up these times and make memories. Really, we started hanging out with this friend group of lowkey partygoers, and it was inspiring because they had all of this music that I hadn't really been listening to. A lot of pop music I feel like we would have rather grown up with if we had gone to normal school. But, you know, I was on TV instead. It was kind of like a reintroduction to the culture that I probably should have been a part of more. Getting to hang out with them, staying up late at night, listening to this music, being reckless and being a kid. I feel like that's where this song comes from. A lot of my younger life, I've been a professional for a long time. This song, it's a celebration of being young and reckless.
Rocky: With this song, I felt that it always had some legs. I always was like, "If we can get this shit right, it cooks."
Don't Walk Away
Ross: 'Don't Walk Away,' was again in search of love, in search of a connection and a brief romance that I had in Paris that I thought could have been a long-term relationship - it turns out that it wasn't quite right. I think this record could be called 'Something of a Lover Boy' or something like that, 'Something of a Romantic'. This was a collaboration with the same team that did 'Don't Take the Night' and 'Same Old Story'. It was me, Rocky, Ellington, and Morgan.
Touch
Ross: 'Touch' is coming from a real place of feeling myself. We're probably going to the club, and I'm kind of feeling invigorated. Those lyrics are true to the story. Like "holy in my jeans" - maybe, you know, spending a little too much money. We're trying to have a good time, looking for "love in all the wrong places". It's about feeling cool, feeling tough.
Rocky: Also, I normally always joke and I'm like, "Hmm. I don't know if I have a favourite lyric, blah blah blah." In 'Touch,' my favourite lyric is when Ross sings, "There's no time to waste."
Ross: The undertone messages throughout the album are ideas of "there's no time to waste," "youth is precious", "where's the love", "the night is fading... let's fucking send it. We don't know how much longer we have until the sun's coming up..." Those are the kinds of overarching themes in the album. And I think 'Touch' is more on the bad boy side of that, where it's the initiation of the night. You're just feeling tough and feeling like you're about to go have the best night of your life.
Same Old Story
Ross: 'Same Old Story' is… is continuing the same story. This is after you've gone to the club, after you've found that person you're like, "Wait a second, I actually do like you, this isn't actually like an infatuation moment, I might actually have feelings for you for real."
And it's the same old story. I'm not ready to commit because maybe we both just got out of relationships and whatnot. Maybe we're both kind of stoked to be free and single in this world. We're having fun in the club, but the truth of the matter is we actually do have feelings for each other and every time we're in the club, we always end up in a corner talking or dancing or just us two.
Rocky: There's something special in the bridge. The whole song is like "the same old shit", we've been in this life for a long time now, we're veterans-ish. But I love when the bridge is cooking and the line, "I hope it never ends." I feel like that's a special moment because it's the same old story over and over again but actually, I want to keep going.
Ross: We pulled up to the studio with Ellington and one of our favourite collaborators on this record, Morgan Taylor Reed. And initially, I had the line "same old story" in my phone. Originally, I was frustrated because, at the time, I felt like we kept sacrificing our music for our touring success. It turned into this thing of, "How come every pop song on the radio is the same story? Where is the originality in the narrative in pop music?" and then it kind of became about a real-life scenario that I was experiencing. But yeah, we just wrote it in a day in the studio, and we all felt really strong about it once it happened.
The Weekend
Ross: 'The Weekend' is continuing this energy, this obsession of trying to make the most of the time and the fact that the weekend really signifies, culturally, this time of freedom. You have two days, and you can do whatever you want. Symbolically, I think that represents the album quite well and signifies the kind of recklessness of being young and dumb and in the sun on the weekend.
Rocky: You kind of like someone, maybe they like you back, but you're like strangers on vacation. I feel like that song is just kind of like, "Let's see what happens." Production-wise, it's probably our most pop-punk track. It has a little bit of that influence we don't lean towards too often when we were growing up.
Don't Take the Night
Ross: I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory, it's sort of about self-discovery. There's definitely the overarching theme of the record, which is like "let's make the most of these moments," infatuation, etc.
Rocky: It's kind of also developed a new meaning, which I feel like happens all the time with our songs later in life, like after something has changed or developed in our life. It's like, "Don't stop the good times." Imagine if you could tour the world and play music and go out in a beautiful city… I don't want that to leave.
I'd Rather Die
Ross: 'I'd Rather Die' is the same dream team of Morgan, Rocky, Ellington, and myself. It's the same kind of concept where we're tackling the concept of obsession and habits and basically just saying, "I know these things are killing me, but like I'm not quite ready to give them up, so I'll do it tomorrow," like, I'm not ready…. don't take the night because I'd rather die.
Rocky: There's an immense knowledge in the line, "I'll do it tomorrow." If you can't do the thing that you are trying to do today or right now, most likely, you will probably keep saying, "I'll do it tomorrow" and then before you know it… you're dead. It can be more subtle than that, like, "Oh, let me do that thing that I've been wanting to do," but haven't. There's a bit of that loop, there's a bit of that same old story we're referencing to where everyone has their own loop that they probably can climb out of by doing it today instead of tomorrow. But again, to unbox that, you kind of have to dive really deep and I think there's immense knowledge to that.
I Can't Believe She Got Away
Ross: I started this one - I had the topline and a lot of the production, like some of the guitar and the bass. And then, Rocky and Garrison really took this production to the next level. You can kind of predict the future sometimes with songs in a strange way. For me, lyrically this song was about break-up blues because when I was in my previous relationship, we were talking like it was endgame. We were planning what the rest of our life was gonna look like. And so this song started like this, like, "Wow, I can't believe she got away after we were talking about all of that." The second verse, I pretty much freestyle rapped based on some experience - like, you know the lyric "I was on my knees"? I was like, I was thinking about proposing for a second. But you know, everything seems to have happened for a reason and I think this song turned out really good.
Everybody's Lover
Ross: I feel like it's a commentary on monogamy and its challenges that people are having in the modern day of the internet and social media. It's a really interesting time for monogamous relationships, and I think people, especially young people, are challenged with this constant bombardment on your phone. So, I think this song has a nod to that.
Better
Ross: 'Better' is about the obsession we have of getting better as men, as people, as athletes, as musicians. I definitely have an obsession with trying to be the best version of myself. Sometimes these relationships and these people that come in and out of your life, you know, sometimes it can leave you heartbroken or leave you in an emotional state but inevitably it's leaving you better. You're learning from these positions and situations. Even when shit hits the fan or you fail, you're getting better. So it's an uplifting story and it's something that I'm definitely obsessed with.
