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DC punks Ekko Astral<\/a> are ready to return with their sophomore album. Their new LP, dubbed The Beltway Is Burning<\/em>, comes out April 22 via Topshelf<\/a>. Leading the record is the single \u201cLil Xan Goes to Washington,\u201d in which the titular character lobbies for addiction assistance legislation in Washington, D.C., only to succumb to K Street and become a sellout himself. Give the song a listen below, and check out its Alec Puglies<\/a>-directed music video.<\/p>\n Recorded immediately after the 2024 U.S. election, Ekko Astral\u2019s second album was written as a \u201creal-time historical document in the form of a dark comedy,\u201d according to a press release. Each song on The Beltway Is Burning<\/em> is a vignette in the band\u2019s fictionalized version of the Beltway, the area around I-495, where Adam Sandler is a godlike president and the DMV has become a demilitarized zone.<\/p>\n The Beltway Is Burning<\/em> follows Ekko Astral\u2019s debut album, 2024\u2019s Pink Balloons<\/a>.<\/em> The new LP is 12 tracks long and boasts two guest features: Pop Music Fever Dream and Big Girl. It also includes the band\u2019s searing single from last fall, \u201cHorseglue<\/a>,\u201d which they called \u201ca screeching call for moral clarity.\u201d<\/p>\n