The Main Thing is the fifth studio album by the American indie rock band Real Estate, released on February 28, 2020 on Domino Records.

The album's release was preceded by the singles, "Paper Cup" and "The Main Thing".

Primary songwriter Martin Courtney began writing The Main Thing while touring in support of the band's previous album, In Mind, in 2017.

'"[11] Regarding the album's themes, Martin Courtney noted, "It’s an idea of life becoming more complex as you get older.

You look back on your past with these rose-coloured glasses, and there’s a tendency to smooth over the deeply complex history of it.

Bass guitarist Alex Bleaker praised Courtney for opening up the band's songwriting process: "I have to give props to Martin for relinquishing this feeling of, 'I wrote it though!'

Just in terms of production and the sounds, with the way that album feels really open and the ambient sections between songs, we were aspiring at least in one sense to do that on this record.