Is Tom DeLonge Still in Blink-182? The Newest Album Has a Different Sound

Every '90s kid and former pop punk kween is celebrating the fact that Blink-182 released a new album today, making it the band's first new album, titled "Nine," in three years. And while "Nine" fills the eternally angsty void in my heart, it definitely leaves me with a few questions.

First off, is Tom DeLonge still in Blink-182? The sound is pretty different, with a much more mature quality, compared to their old music. So, here's why that may be the case.

Four years ago, Tom broke emo hearts worldwide by making the decision to officially leave Blink-182, the punk rock project he started decades ago alongside bassist, Mark Hoppus and drummer, Scott Raynor, according to RadioX. 

The band soon replaced Tom with Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, who was featured on Blink's 2016 album, "California" as well as the latest album, "Nine."

He started an organization called To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, which — according to the website — aims to inspire "a newfound appreciation and understanding of the profound, yet unresolved, mysteries of the universe."

Apparently, their findings have been relatively credible, as a substantial amount of information was recently backed by the U.S. Navy, according to Salon. Pretty interesting stuff.

Tom used to perform in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and not doing so anymore has definitely come as a major transition. But, according to RadioX, he left because he felt like he did everything he wanted to.  

 "As an artist, I'd kind of conquered what I wanted to do with music, so I thought this is a great time to kind of do something else," Tom said in an interview. So, it seems as though he simply had other passions.

Unlike "Enema Of The State," which has joke songs like "Dysentery Gary," or hyper sexual albums like "Take Off Your Pants And Jacket," "Nine" is an ode to adults who are still basically angsty teens at heart. They go to work, do laundry, and commute, but still, they rock out.

Per The Atlantic, it mixes the band's OG sound with the sound of contemporary pop music. Essentially, it's grown with its fanbase and has properly matured with the times. I dig it.

So, there you have it. Tom is no longer part of Blink-182, however, the band still managed to execute a perfectly good pop punk album. "Nine" is everything I needed on this crisp morning, to be honest, and it goes without saying I'll be rocking out to "Blame It On My Youth" in its entirety this weekend.

Tom, you seriously don't know what you're missing... but we're guessing you're busy raiding Area 51 right now. Make it rock, bud.