As It Is release self-titled fifth album alongside I’m So Alive! live session
As It Is have released their self-titled fifth album, their first full-length record as the reunited quartet in eight years.
Out now via FLG, As It Is arrives alongside a live studio session filmed at Marshall Studios with Espera. The performance opens with new single I’m So Alive!, a bright, hook-heavy pop-rock track set against the darker and more exposed lyrical edge that has long run through the band’s work.
Frontman Patty Walters said the record emerged from a period in which the group had been forced to confront whether there was any future for the band following its hiatus.
“When the band fell apart – slowly, painfully, and unceremoniously – and each of us exited the project one by one, we had little choice but to make peace with the near certain eventuality that this band had no future,” Walters said. “We wanted it to end differently, but thankfully, it never really ended at all.”
He added: “We never thought we would get to write and record another album together, and we couldn’t be any more proud, grateful, and overjoyed to be sharing these songs with the world today. We hope that this, our first album together in eight years, was worth the wait. This is As It Is.”
A live return for I’m So Alive!
The Marshall Studios session brings Espera into the fold for a new live arrangement, with Walters describing I’m So Alive! as a defining statement of the group’s return.
“This song holds a really special place in our hearts and the story of the band,” he said. “We all started feeling like this one became a really powerful embodiment of the band’s return, and opening our first album after the hiatus with I’m So Alive! felt too right to ignore.”
“I’ve also always felt that songs like these are what the band does best – upbeat, catchy rock songs drenched in dark, sarcastic, and very vulnerable lyrics.”
The record in full
The 13-track physical edition includes appearances and songs spanning the band’s reunion period, from Lose Your Way & Find Yourself to What If It All Works Out. Murray Macleod features on Ruin My Life, while Headlights & Stars is included as a physical-edition bonus track.
- I’m So Alive!
- Ruin My Life (Feat. Murray Macleod)
- Do You Remember?
- Live, Laugh, Love, Los Angeles
- Marilyn
- Watching The World Go Bye
- Lose Your Way & Find Yourself
- Last At The Party
- Turn To Dust
- If I Ever Lost You
- Not Anymore
- What If It All Works Out
- Headlights & Stars (Physical editions bonus track)
UK shows and instores this summer
As It Is are marking release week with a run of headline shows, instores and signings before heading out on a wider UK and Ireland tour in September. The July itinerary includes London, Brighton, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool, while the September dates take in Burn It Down Festival in Torquay and a closing Portsmouth show at The Wedgewood Rooms.
- 17 July: London, Lower Third
- 18 July: Brighton, DUST
- 19 July: Brighton, Resident Music (Instore & Signing)
- 20 July: Birmingham, HMV Vault (Instore & Signing)
- 21 July: Bury, The Met (Wax & Beans) (Instore & Signing)
- 21 July: Leeds, Brudenell (Instore & Signing)
- 22 July: Nottingham, Rough Trade (Instore & Signing)
- 23 July: Kingston, Circuit
- 24 July: Bristol, Rough Trade (Instore & Signing)
- 25 July: Sheffield, Arundel Emporium (Instore & Signing)
- 25 July: Liverpool, Jacaranda Baltic (Instore & Signing)
- 3 September: Torquay, Burn It Down Festival
- 4 September: Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill
- 5 September: Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
- 6 September: Cambridge, Mash
- 8 September: Norwich, The Waterfront Studio
- 9 September: Sheffield, Corporation
- 10 September: Hull, Social
- 11 September: Newcastle, The Grove
- 12 September: Edinburgh, La Belle Angele
- 13 September: Liverpool, District
- 15 September: Belfast, The Limelight 2
- 16 September: Dublin, Academy
- 18 September: Blackpool, Bootleg Social
- 19 September: Oxford, O2 Academy 2
- 20 September: Cardiff, The Globe
- 21 September: Guildford, Boileroom
- 22 September: Tunbridge Wells, The Forum
- 23 September: Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms
