This single includes two killer songs recording in Portland, OR while embarking on their first (and, sadly, last) US tour, that are the perfect follow up to a their self-titled LP we released last year .The band just completed a European tour and announced that they are breaking up. And while this is unfortunate, we're happy to have had the opportunity to bring the majority of their catalog to the US.
I know that past simple can sometimes go with "just" as it is the case in this sentence. But why did the author choose past simple instead of present perfect?
Does it change the meaning of it ?
And why is it not written:
The band just completed a European tour and announced that they were breaking up
because all actions belong to the past?
Best Answer
It's not clear that all the actions do belong in the past. Remember, the present progressive, despite its name, can have a future meaning:
If the had announced their breakup in 1997, you should definitely say, were breaking up. But since the announcement is still recent (at the time of writing), the actual breakup could still be in progress, or planned for the near future, and are breaking up is appropriate.