''False Alarm'' is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

Two Door Cinema Club Two Door Cinema Club are a band from Bangor, Northern Ireland. The band formed in 2007 and is composed of three members: Alex Trimble (vocals, rhythm guitar, beats, synths), Sam Halliday (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Kevin Baird (bass, syn ...

, released on 21 June 2019 by Prolifica Inc. and

PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European independent labels in the early 1980s. Play It Again Sam's prominent ea ...

. The album was preceded by four singles, "Talk", "Satellite", "Dirty Air" and "Once".

Writing and development

After ending their tour in support for their previous album, ''

Gameshow A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' (2016), the band started writing new ideas while on the road. In an interview with '' Digital Spy'' in June 2018, lead singer Alex Trimble revealed that the band was working on an album and that there would be "interesting" collaborations with other artists.

Release and promotion

On 11 February 2019, Two Door Cinema Club released a teaser video on their social media accounts to tease a new album with the caption "Album 4 – who's ready?" The lead single, "Talk", was released on 18 March 2019. The band's second single, "Satellite", was released on 24 April 2019. On the same day, the band revealed details about the new album, and hosted a live stream on their Facebook page. A copy of the album artwork was also launched into space minutes before the live stream began. The album was announced to have been pushed back a week to 21 June 2019 due to a "vinyl factory issue" on 20 May 2019. The third single, "Dirty Air", was released on 21 May 2019, followed by "Once" on 19 June 2019.

Critical reception

''False Alarm'' received generally positive reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 76, based on 8 reviews. In a four out of five star review, Matt Collar of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

called the album "a colorful, good-time album by a band that's maturing, and having fun at the same time." Nick Lowe of '' Clash'' gave the record a highly positive review, saying, "On this record, the three piece are as creative and alluring than ever before, and it solidifies the band's place at the top of their game. Through wide-eyed vulnerability and reflective song writing, ''False Alarm'' is a game-changing record for the future of indie-rock."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''False Alarm''.

Two Door Cinema Club

* Kevin Baird – bass guitar, keyboards * Sam Halliday – guitar * Alex Trimble – vocals, guitars, percussion, keyboards

Additional personnel

* Ben Thompson – drums *

Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Dir ...

– keyboards, guitar, programming, percussion, production ; mixing * Matt Bishop – engineering * John Davis – mastering * Will Parton – recording assistance *

Dan Grech-Marguerat Daniel James Grech-Marguerat, also known as Dan Grech, (born 11 July 1981 in Bedford), is an English / Maltese recording engineer, record producer and mixer. His production style pulls together a blend of alternative and pop genres. He is recogn ...

– mixing * Joel Davies – mixing assistance * Charles Haydon Hicks – mixing assistance * Laura Hayden – backing vocals *

Mokoomba Mokoomba is a Zimbabwean musical group, originally from Chinotimba township, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The group sings in a number of languages including English, Luvale, Tonga, Nyanja, Ndebele and Shona. Mokoomba takes its name from a Ton ...

– backing vocals * Aleksandra Kingo – photography, artwork * Annelise Keestra – graphic design

Charts

References

2019 albums Albums produced by Jacknife Lee PIAS Recordings albums Two Door Cinema Club albums {{2010s-indie-rock-album-stub