''More. Again. Forever.'' is the sixth studio album by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Courteeners Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton in 2006 by Liam Fray (lead guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel "Conan" Moores (rhythm guitar) and Mark Cuppello (bass); the latter was ...

. Following their fifth studio album ''

Mapping the Rendezvous ''Mapping the Rendezvous'' is the fifth studio album by British rock band Courteeners, released on 28 October 2016. The album was announced in August while "The 17th" was made available on streaming platforms. In November the band embarked on a U ...

'' (2016), the band released a reimagined version of their debut studio album ''

St. Jude Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

'' (2008) and scrapped an album's worth of new material. After a co-writing session with Rich Turvey and a tour of the United Kingdom, frontman Liam Fray wrote the majority of what would appear on their next album in early 2019. Recording for it concluded by April 2019; ''More. Again. Forever.'' is a pop and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

album that takes influenced from the work of

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals, various instruments), Nancy Whang (synthesizer, keyboards, vocals), Pat Mahoney (dr ...

, as well as a period of addiction and self-improvement that Fray went through. ''More. Again. Forever.'' received generally favourable from

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

, with many praising the songwriting. The album reached number two in the UK and number one in Scotland, while "Hanging Off Your Cloud" reached the top 30 of the

UK Independent Singles Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

. "Heavy Jacket" was released as its

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

in September 2019, followed by "Better Man" in December 2019, which coincided with two one-off shows in London and Manchester. "Hanging Off Your Cloud" was released as the album's third single in January 2020; shortly afterwards, Courteeners went on a short UK tour. They performed at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester to a crowd of 50,000 in September 2021, which led into a UK tour at the end of the year.

Background and writing

Courteeners released their fifth studio album ''

'' in October 2016, peaking at number four in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. It was promoted with a tour of the United Kingdom, a one-off performance at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester to a crowd of 50,000, and frontman Liam Fray embarking on a solo tour. They released a reimagined version of their debut studio album ''

'' (2008), under the name ''St. Jude Re:Wired'', in early 2018. By August 2018, the band were in the process of writing material; Fray revealed he had scrapped an album's worth of songs as he was unsatisfied with the output. Fray was hesitant about working with an outside writer, before he was put in contact with

Blossoms In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...

and

She Drew the Gun She Drew the Gun are a band from Wirral, England, fronted by singer/songwriter Louisa Roach. They won the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent competition in 2016. Their music is described as psych pop and is known for its often political lyri ...

producer Rich Turvey, who Fray had met through

James Skelly James Alexander Skelly (born August 1980) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. Best known as the frontman of The Coral, he embarked on a solo career when the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2012. The band regrouped in ...

the Coral The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral'', from which came the single " Dreaming of You", was nominated for ...

. Fray and Turvey subsequently wrote four songs across six days. In November and December 2018, Courteeners embarked on a tour of the UK, with support from

Gerry Cinnamon Gerard Crosbie (born 1 October 1984), professionally known as Gerry Cinnamon, is a Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist. He sings in his local accent A majority of the songs that would end up on the forthcoming album were written within the first seven weeks of 2019, when Fray was abstaining from alcohol. In April 2019, Fray announced that they had finished recording their next album.

Composition and lyrics

''More. Again. Forever.'' is a pop and

album. The title was influenced by

Leslie Jamison Leslie Sierra Jamison (born June 21, 1983) is an American novelist and essayist. She is the author of the 2010 novel ''The Gin Closet'' and the 2014 essay collection ''The Empathy Exams.'' Jamison also directs the non-fiction concentration in wri ...

's book on sobriety, ''The Recovering: Intoxication and its Aftermath'' (2018), which Fray had found while in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Stewart Mason 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 databas ...

, the album had a "distinctly dance-friendly sound" inspired by the work of

, "focus ngon bass grooves and insightful lyrics that marked a late-era maturation for the crew". Fray said it was influenced by "excess, addiction and self-improvement"; for sometime he was unable to "get myself or my head together" and struggled to write anything. When asked if the album was a "map of your road to recovery", Fray responded that it "wasn’t meant to be that way. I think I’m just too lazy to write about anything else than what’s going on in my head or in my heart". '' Clash'' writer Susan Hansen said the "complexity of what it means to be human in this day and age is placed under the microscope" with the album. Fray wrote nearly all of the songs, except for "Better Man", "Hanging Off Your Cloud", "One Day at a Time" and "Is Heaven Even Worth It?"; Fray co-wrote "Hanging Off Your Cloud" with Ola Modupe-Ojo, while the other three were written with Turvey. The electro- glam "Heart Attack" opens ''More. Again. Forever.'', akin to

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

fronting

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...

. "Heavy Jacket" opens with a drum beat and piano part that recalls "

9 to 5 Working(laboring) time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countries regula ...

" (1980) by

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

, eventually shifting to

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disco ...

. It comes across as a mix of the Charlatans and

Royal Blood A royal descent is a genealogy, genealogical Kinship and descent, line of descent from a past or present monarch. Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic ...

; the song includes a reference to actress

Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and ...

. "More. Again. Forever." echoes the work of

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology ''Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictiona ...

, and sees Fray doing spoken-word over a bass-centric backing track. "Better Man" is an

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

track about one's flaws and looking for self-improvement, while evoking "

Losing My Religion "Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in February 1991 as the first single from the group's seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). Built on a mandolin riff, the song was an unlikely hit for the group ...

" (1991) by

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

The combination of minimalist piano and a string section in "Hanging Off Your Cloud" is reminiscent of the intro section of "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

" (2010) by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

. Discussing the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

-lite "Previous Parties", the band viewed their albums from a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

perspective, as Fray explained: "Track five is always a slow song to end the first side, then track six o open the second sidehas to be a really big punch again". "The Joy of Missing Out" is a

post-punk revival Post-punk revival (also known as garage rock revival,J. Stuessy and S. D. Lipscomb, ''Rock and roll: its History and Stylistic Development'' (London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 5th edn., 2006), , p. 451. new wave revival,. and new rock revolution) is ...

track, anchored by a bass part in the style of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

, that conveys the opposite approach to the "

fear of missing out Fear of missing out (FOMO) is the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could make one's life better. FOMO is also associated with a fear of regret, ...

" mentality. "One Day at a Time", as well as "Is Heaven Even Worth It?", is a ballad in the vein of

the Lilac Time The Lilac Time is a British alternative folk-rock band, originally formed in Herefordshire, England by Stephen Duffy, his brother Nick Duffy and their friend Michael Weston in 1986. The band's name was taken from a line in the Nick Drake son ...

frontman

Stephen Duffy Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo perform ...

. In a review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', journalist

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

said "Take It on the Chin" has Fray seeing a therapist "in embarrassment, haunted by the thought that this really isn’t the way that men, particularly northern men, are supposed to behave". The album closes with "Is Heaven Even Worth It?", which sees Fray tackle self-deprecation, viewing people's lives on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, and coming across as desolate despite having anything he wanted.

Release

In May 2019, Courteeners played a benefit show for a homeless charity. In June 2019, the band played two warm up shows with the Coral and

Inhaler An inhaler (also known as a puffer, pump or allergy spray) is a medical device used for delivering medicines into the lungs through the work of a person's breathing. This allows medicines to be delivered to and absorbed in the lungs, which prov ...

, leading to an appearance at the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

. The day after the latter, they performed at

Heaton Park Heaton Park is a public park in Manchester, England, covering an area of over . The park includes the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall. The hall, remodelled by James Wyatt in 1772, is now only o ...

in Manchester in front of a crowd of 50,000, with support from

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

DMA's DMA'S (stylised in all caps) are an Australian three-piece rock band formed in 2012 in Sydney. The band is composed of Tommy O'Dell, Matt Mason, and Johnny Took. They gained popularity for their debut single " Delete" and for their self-titled ...

and

Pale Waves Pale Waves are an English rock band from Manchester, formed in 2014. It was founded originally as Creek when lead singer and guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie met drummer Ciara Doran while attending university in Manchester. The other members are ...

. Following this, Courteeners appeared at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

Tramlines The Tramlines Festival is an annual music festival held in Sheffield, UK. The festival was originally free to attend, but now requires tickets. The line-up consists of national and local artists. The festival was curated and organised by a pan ...

and

Kendal Calling Kendal Calling is a music & arts festival, held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria in the North West of England. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to a 25,000 capacity 4-day music festival. Kendal C ...

festivals. On 2 September 2019, ''More. Again. Forever.'' was announced for release in four months' time; alongside this, the album's artwork and track listing was posted online. "Heavy Jacket" was released as its

and a lyric video was posted online. The following month, the band released a music video for "Heavy Jacket", the first part of a trilogy that comprised the short film ''Better''. The video features Sarah Beck Mather and Maisy Jones, and sees Fray singing in a nightclub; it was directed by Joe Connor. ''Better'' was based on a short story of the same name by Emma Jane Unsworth, who Fray was a big fan of. "More. Again. Forever." was made available for streaming on 30 October 2019. The band closed out the year with two one-off shows:

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

in London on 30 November 2019; and

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...

on 14 December 2019, both with orchestras. They were supported by the Coral at London and

Miles Kane Miles Peter Kane (born 17 March 1986) is an English musician, best known as a solo artist and the co-frontman of the Last Shadow Puppets. He was also the former frontman of the Rascals, before the band announced their break-up in August 2009. ...

at Manchester; Courteeners were joined by touring member Elina Lin for the shows. Between these two gigs, "Better Man" was released as single on 2 December 2019. Two days later, the music video for the song was posted online; it was also directed by Connor. Later in the month, "Better Man" was bundled with acoustic versions of "Better Man" and "Heavy Jacket" as extra tracks. "Hanging Off Your Cloud" was released as single on 13 January 2020. ''More. Again. Forever.'' was released four days later; it was promoted with six intimate shows across the UK. The music video for "Hanging Off Your Cloud" was posted online on 29 January 2020; it stars a woman having an

out-of-body experience An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a phenomenon in which a person perceives the world from a location outside their physical body. An OBE is a form of autoscopy (literally "seeing self"), although this term is more commonly use ...

while being operated on, and was also directed by Connor. Courteeners were due to support

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

for a one-off show and appear at the

TRNSMT TRNSMT (pronounced as "Transmit") is a music festival staged at Glasgow Green in Glasgow, Scotland, organised by DF Concerts. History An early line-up for the first TRNSMT festival was revealed in January 2017, two months after the announceme ...

and Reading and Leeds Festivals; all were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In April and May 2020, Fray held a series of shows from his home through

as the pandemic continued. In September 2021, Courteeners appeared at TRNSMT and played two one-off shows: a warm-up show at

Scarborough Open Air Theatre Scarborough Open Air Theatre (commonly abbreviated the SOAT or OAT) is an outdoor theatre in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in Northstead Manor Gardens in 1932, and originally closed in 1986 but was reopened in May 2010. Re ...

with the Coral, leading to a performance at the Emirates Old Trafford with support from

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

, Blossoms,

the Big Moon The Big Moon is an English indie rock band, formed in 2014 in London by frontwoman Juliette Jackson. Their debut album, ''Love in the 4th Dimension'', was released on 6 April 2017, containing a number of singles previously released on their EP, ...

and Zuzu. The Old Trafford show, which consisted of a crowd of 50,000, sold out within 90 minutes. Courteeners closed out the year with a short UK tour in November 2021, under the banner of Whites of Their Eyes, intended to be a 15-year celebration since their first show in 2006. Following the tour's conclusion, a film of the 2019 Heaton Park show was posted to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Reception

''More. Again. Forever.'' was met with generally favourable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, 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 78, based on six reviews.

AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...

gave it an average score of 7.5, based on seven reviews.

reviewer Neil Z. Yeung found the album to be " icker and shinier than its rollicking predecessor", adding that it was "near perfect and not a song is wasted". Hansen felt that it showcased the band that was "only bigger, bolder, and stronger than before, and even more powerful than we remember them". ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'' writer John Earls said there was "no way anyone could call the 10 taut tunes found on

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

generic"; he expanding on this by calling it the "glorious noise of a band mucking about with renewed confidence". Sophie Goodall of ''

The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a Compact (newspaper), compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its view ...

'' wrote that the album "ultimately sounds nothing like the Courteeners", noting a variety of instruments. Andrew Trendell of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' said the album "strikes a mature balance. It’s escapist in its sound but humane in its approach to the world. It’s experimental but familiar". ''

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

'' Dominic Penna said "what is commendable is that Courteeners not only refuse to rest on their laurels with this record, but cast many of them aside altogether". ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

'' writer Stuart Clark said it was the "sound of band enjoying their conquering heroes status while still endeavouring to make their most audacious record yet". In contrast, Petridis thought the music offers a "mixed bag", adding that " u’re listening to a band attempting to push the boat out without scaring anyone off". ''More. Again. Forever.'' peaked at number two in the UK, marking their highest position in their home country, while it topped the Scottish Albums Charts. "Hanging Off Your Cloud" charted at number 22 on the

Track listing

All lyrics by Liam Fray, all music by Fray, except where noted.

Personnel

Courteeners * Liam Fray – vocals, guitar * Daniel Moores – guitar * Joe Cross – bass guitar * Michael Campbell – drums

Charts

References

External links

''More. Again. Forever.''
at

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Courteeners 2020 albums The Courteeners albums Ignition Records albums