It came as a shock to many when Waterparks cancelled their upcoming album, INTELLECTIAL PROPERTY 2: LOST IN THE PROPERTY. This was an executive decision by frontman Awsten Knight, who cancelled the album abruptly, two days before they were set to play at Lollapalooza in Chicago.
The sequel to the band's fifth studio album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY and continuation of the story that came with it, IP2 was getting hyped up since October, when the Property Tour came to a close and SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN was released. Since this was supposed to be a sister/sequel album, some of the songs had a prequel counterpart on INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
The singles that were released were (in order), SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN, SOULSUCKER (sequel to ST*RFUCKER), FAI2 (feat. Zeph) (sequel to FUCK ABOUT IT feat. blackbear). Music videos were released with each single, each one building on the lore of the album, and introducing the "characters" the band members portrayed.
However, on August 2nd, a video was posted on the Waterparks Instagram of someone burying the supposed dead body of Soulsucker, a character portrayed by Knight. The caption of the video would read:
"I no longer feel good about INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 2: LOST IN THE PROPERTY and will be canceling the release. The sheer amount of unprecedented mishaps, bureaucratic red tape, and bizarre things that have gone wrong truly has me believing the universe is working against this project and I’m tired of fighting it. It sounds dramatic but without going into every specific detail, this album feels haunted. On top of that, living in the “PROPERTY” world for 3 years now and constantly being in the headspace of re-approaching my issues with religion is very unhealthy and continues to take its toll on my mental wellbeing. The idea of having to follow through with a full rollout, multiple tours for it, and keep living in that place sounds daunting and I’d rather take a beat and reapproach the next Waterparks album with love rather than fear and bad energy. It’s unconventional but I wanted to give one final thank you to everyone who celebrated INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 2 with us from its inception at the SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN tour: tomorrow we’re dropping one final track from the album titled GUILT. If you were there, you’ll know. All that being said, without going into detail, you’re going to really enjoy the next few months. Thank you forever, enjoy"
-Awsten Knight on the cancellation of IP2.
Fans, though disappointed, met this news with overwhelming support. Shortly before the cancellation was announced, Knight would post a photo on his Instagram of his new hair, which generally for the band, signifies a new album era for them.
As the last bit of the Intellectual Property era, the band would go on to release one final track entitled GUILT, which was debuted during the Sneaking Out Of Heaven tour. The track is a monologue over top of a dark, electric instrumental, and speaks of religious guilt and explains the toll it can take on an individual. A short film would also be released along with the track. Knight would even submit a fictional obituary for the character Soulsucker to the Houston Chronicle and the LA Times.
The final words in GUILT are: "Everyone is a god once you leave the property". The line made for a powerful yet bittersweet end to the Intellectual Property era.
The band has not announced any future plans, but be on the lookout; you never know when they'll start the next era.
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