David Jenkins laughs when asked why it took Pablo Cruise over 30 years to put out new music. “Yeah, it hit us a lot of times that we should do something,” he says. “I don’t know what took so long. We’ve been out there playing gigs on the old songs and you think, ‘People don’t want to hear anything new, they just want to reminisce.’ But this song is kind of fun. It’s nice to remind people Pablo Cruise is still alive and well.”
That “song” is “Breathe,” the band’s first single since mullets were unironically fashionable. The funny part is that it wasn’t made in some plush LA studio but over Zoom. “Larry [Antonino] had a bass riff, Corey [Lerios] started playing to that, and I threw in a guitar part from my own little setup at home,” Jenkins says. “Then we sent it all around, put the lyrics on, Robbie sang it, and suddenly we had a track. It just came together long-distance. And it’s a good song—it feels good to have something new, so people remember we’re not just ghosts of the 70s.”
“Breathe” has the clean, updated gloss of a band aware of the 21st century but still addicted to sunshine. Jenkins insists that’s no accident. “That’s just who we are. We’re positive people,” he shrugs. “Why go dark? Keep the light on. We like to have fun like anybody else, but musically, our point of view’s always been, ‘Why not make it joyful?’ That’s not manufactured—that’s us.”
Still, Pablo Cruise hasn’t always been so consistent. Their last album, Out of Our Hands in 1986, wandered into new wave territory because, well, the world did. “Corey and I were kind of winding down, not as connected as we had been,” Jenkins remembers. “It was tough to come by. We didn’t go into it saying, ‘This is our last record, let’s make it count.’ We just made the record, and then afterwards it was like, ‘You know what? It’s time to take a break.’ Which ended up being a 25-year break.”
And then there’s the Huey Lewis connection. “We all had the same office and manager, we were all from Marin County,” Jenkins says. “He was one of our mates. So writing with him wasn’t a big deal, it was just natural.” Casual Huey Lewis collaborations, because that’s what 80s Northern California apparently offered.
So why now, and why “Breathe”? Jenkins doesn’t overthink it. “We didn’t even discuss if it should be classic Cruise or something new. We just played. That’s always been the deal—get together, make music, see what comes out.” What came out this time was something that sounded modern without abandoning the band’s DNA. “It feels like the next chapter,” he says. “And it reminds people we’re still here, which is important.”
As for what comes next, Jenkins sounds optimistic. “We’re always writing, that never ends. Another record? I think it could happen. It’s a new lineup, a little bit of a new sound, and we definitely want people to hear us. It’s a good band, and it’s fun. Why not? Let’s get out and have some fun.”
The irony of a band called Pablo Cruise spending 30 years not cruising into a studio is not lost. But if “Breathe” proves anything, it’s that Pablo Cruise hasn’t flatlined. They’re still capable of the same sun-bleached, light-hearted optimism they rode in on, just now armed with Wi-Fi and webcams.
“Look, man,” Jenkins says, “it’s fun to have something new. And maybe people will finally stop asking us when the next one’s coming—at least for a while.”
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