''Align the Planets'' is the debut studio album by Northern Irish

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

trio In Case of Fire, released 11 May 2009 on Search and Destroy Records. Recorded at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the album had originally been recorded in their home town of

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

over a seven-month period but was re-recorded after signing a record deal. The trio say about the album that, "We're just a rock band that write about things that are important to us". Social issues, child abuse and war are the main topics the band tackle on the album along with personal problems, such as the death of Colin and Steven's father at an early age.

Promotion

The trio's debut single " This Time We Stand" was released 11 November 2008 along with a music video. The single was played frequently on MTV2. The video for second single " The Cleansing" was shot in Leeds and was then released along with a limited edition 7" vinyl picture disc on 2 March 2009. It went on to chart at #10 in the

UK Indie 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 rel ...

. "Enemies" was the third single released a week prior to the album on 4 May 2009. The video was directed by Canadian

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

Jesse Ewles Jesse Ewles (aka Jesse Yules; born December 13, 1981) is a Canadian independent filmmaker based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ewles has adopted the alternate spelling "Yules", for use on his feature film projects. Ewles has directed music videos ...

. A demo of "Violence and Pictures" was also featured on the "New Breed" compilation CD by

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

and the band started touring in order to promote the album on 12 May at the Exeter Cavern. Fourth single, "Parallels" was released on 24 August 2009, preceding their performances at the

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fe ...

on the August Bank Holiday weekend. The music video was made available on their Myspace on the release date. Second single, " The Cleansing" was re-released on 26 October 2009, featuring two new exclusive

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

Track listing

All lyrics written by Steven Robinson, music composed by in Case of Fire. #" This Time We Stand" – 3:34 #" The Cleansing" – 3:34 #"Do What I Say" – 3:56 #"Align The Planets" – 4:05 #"Parallels" – 3:32 #"Plan A" – 4:18 #* samples

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

#"Enemies" – 2:49 #"Landslides" – 3:34 #"Violence and Pictures" – 2:50 #"And Sorrow" – 3:07 #"A Pale New Costume" – 4:07 #"Second Revelation" – 4:03

Bonus tracks

; Play.com Bonus Tracks #

"The Cleansing" (Live Acoustic) #

"Landslides" (Live Acoustic) #

"Hold My Head Up High" (Live Acoustic)

B-sides

"This Time We Stand" *"Call To Arms" *"This Time We Stand" (Live) *"This Time We Stand" (Acoustic) "The Cleansing" *"Faust" *"A Terrible Fate" *"The Cleansing" (Live) "Enemies" *"History Has Taught Us Nothing" *"Hold My Head Up High (Acoustic)" "Parallels" *"Align The Planets" (Live) *"Plan A" (Live)

Personnel

The following personnel contributed to ''Align the Planets'':

In Case of Fire

*Steve Robinson – lead vocals, guitars,

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

*Colin Robinson – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

*Mark Williamson –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Additional musicians

*Rocky O'Reilly – programming (tracks 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12) *Audrey Riley –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(track 5)

Production

Gil Norton Gil Norton (born in Liverpool) is an English record producer known for his work with alternative rock bands such as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo ...

– producer * Chris Sheldon – mixing *Guy Massey –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

*Ted Jensen – mastering *John Dunne –

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture ( sound design, audio post-produ ...

, engineering assistant *Jeff Gilligan – art direction,

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

*Paul Harries –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

*Craig Jennings – A&R

References

{{Authority control 2009 debut albums In Case of Fire albums Search and Destroy Records albums Albums produced by Gil Norton Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios