Lower Than Atlantis (album)

Background

Lower Than Atlantis released Changing Tune in October 2012 through major label Island Records. The album had an arena rock sound that showed the band's progression and an attempt to enter mainstream consciousness. Island Records were streamlining the label and artists that undersold a certain number of records were dropped. Despite the album reaching the top 30, it undersold the label's expectations. The band couldn't be dropped since the label had picked the option for the band's next album. The label wanted the band "to be almost as popular as a pop band and it was just never going to happen", according to guitarist Ben Sansom. The band's manager had a meeting with Island Records to secure a budget for the band's next album. Their manager said the label "don't really wanna do it."

Island Records gave the band a choice: "We're legally obliged to make your [next album] but we’re not really up for it. So we either do it or do a half-arsed job of it or you can take your full record advance and leave." The band took the advance and used it to build a recording studio in Watford in July 2013. A friend of the band had a lease on a few rehearsal rooms. The band initially wanted the room as a storage area for their equipment, but this soon changed into a storage and rehearsal area, then into a storage, rehearsal and recording studio. Sansom spent a week looking up studio equipment on Gumtree, which the band would drive to pick up. Two items of gear the band acquired was a tape machine and a 1980s recording console.

In July 2013, the band played at the 2013 edition of T in the Park festival in Balado, Scotland. The band's performance took place in a 20,000 capacity tent with only three rows of people in attendance. After the performance, vocalist/guitarist Mike Duce exclaimed "We're done, aren't we?" Following this, the band members proceeded to go their separate ways: Duce co-wrote songs for artists such as 5 Seconds of Summer, Sansom and bassist Declan Hart did production work, and drummer Eddy Thrower did session work for groups such as One Direction.

Recording

Lower Than Atlantis was produced by Dan Lancaster, over the course of "seven or eight months". The band brought Lancaster in because of his pop credentials, his heavy rock background and the ability to merge the two. After every recording session the group had a demo where they would re-record each instrument part-by-part. Lancaster would constantly attempt to get the best take every time, according to Duce: "He'd be like: 'That was shit. You've got to do it again.' There's no bullshit." Previously the band would worry if they made a mistake as it would costs a lot to hire the studio and personnel, however, since the band had their own studio they took it at a leisurely pace. Three drum tracks were recorded at the band's studio, before the band relocated to Peter Miles' studio in Devon where they recorded the remaining drum tracks.

Electronic beats were used during recording, which resulted in Thrower changing his thought process to that of a session player. Thrower thought it was a "refreshing" experience. Lancaster mixed almost all of the tracks, except for "Here We Go" and "Damn Nation", which were mixed by Neal Avron. Miles engineered drums on all of the songs, except for "Here We Go", which was done by Lancaster. The album was mastered by Dick Beetham. In an October 2013 announcement, the band said they were going to start "sift[ing] through all the new material/demos to start deciphering where we're at album wise". In February 2014 the band announced that the album was done.

Composition

With the lyrics, Duce called them "quite vague" compared to his previous autobiographical lyrics. Discussing the band's sound, Duce said "I'm 25. It's time to stop acting like a fucking child – I'm definitely less of a nutter". Duce said that all of the material sound "completely different from each other" due to them being "written over such an expansive period of time." They are "all catchy, our writing with a very pop sensibility like a pop structure." He wanted to expand beyond the guitar-bass-drums structure, incorporating hints of electronic music throughout the album. Hart listed "Domination" by Pantera, "Down the Road" by C2C, and "Chocolate" by The 1975, among others, as songs that influenced the album.

"Here We Go" was intended to be a B-side. In its original demo form, which was done in a day, the song was a chord progression a number of riffs. The band eventually thought it was "really fucking good", according to Duce, to the extent that the band sent it a few colleagues. They thought the song should be a single, and the track was recorded the following day. The intro to "Ain't No Friend" is the producer's voice in single notes that the band made to sound like chords. The chords were then constructed to make the chord progression which Duce sang over. The song talks about the end of a relationship. "English Kids in America" is about the band's first tour in America. The pre-chorus guitar riff had been written by Duce "ages ago". "Criminal" is about the band learning from their experience of being on a major label. The string section was added later on and the band think "they make the song". "Words Don't Come So Easily" was intended to be fully acoustic. The song does start with an acoustic intro before turning into a full-band effort. The post-chorus guitar riff consisted of a single note that was cut and pasted in Pro Tools.

"Emily" was written between Duce and a collective known as The Invisible Men. The song was written as a joke about Duce's dog Rosie. After realising he was stretching a two-syllable word over a three-syllable melody, Duce substituted Rosie for Emily. The middle eight section in "Stays the Same" consists of several percussion instruments recorded in a live room. The instruments were "smashed out [in] syncopated rhythms". "Live Slow, Die Old" is despite how "rich, powerful, strong or intelligent" a person may be, they will die, according to Duce. "Damn Nation" is Duce venting about how he disagrees with organised religion. Duce had previously been subjected to religion being "forced down my throat" from when he was young. Duce loved the lyric "time time ticking by, the one thing we spend we cannot buy", which resulted in him writing "Time". "Just What You Need" refers to sex. "Number One" is about Duce "wanting to leave my mark on this earth" and him being in the band "is hopefully me leaving a piece of me behind."

Release

After recording the album, the band signed to Sony Music Entertainment, who were already big fans of the band. On 2 June 2014 Lower Than Atlantis was announced and the track listing & artwork was revealed. Duce explained, when "listening [to a band] for the first time, I would normally go for the self-titled [...] as there must be a reason its self-titled. We wanted this album to be that album for us." Following a debut on BBC Radio 1, "Here We Go" was released as a single on 3 June 2014. It reached number 86 on the UK Singles Chart. The song spent several weeks on the Radio 1 A-list. The band thought the reaction to the song was "unexpected". Lower Than Atlantis went on a UK tour in July. A music video was released for "Here We Go" on 21 July, directed by Daniel Broadley. A video of the band playing "Ain't No Friend" live was released on 24 July. "English Kids in America" was released as a single in August, with an instrumental version of the song as the B-side, prior to the release of the album. The music video "English Kids in American" was released on 13 August and features the band driving around the US. It was also directed by Broadley.

"Emily" was made available for streaming on 8 September. On 25 September, "Sewer Side" was made available for streaming. "Emily" and "English Kids in America" were released as a double A-side single on 29 September. On 1 October, Lower Than Atlantis was made available for streaming. An EP, titled Emily, was released as released on 3 October 2014. It featured "Emily", "English Kids in America", an alternative version of "English Kids in America" and "I'm Partying". A music video was released for "Emily", directed by Barney Dick. Lower Than Atlantis was planned for release in late September, but was pushed back a week, for release on 6 October. A deluxe edition included three new songs, while another deluxe edition included four alternative versions of songs. The band played an album release show at The Moncarch in Camden. In November 2014 the band supported A Day to Remember on their All Signs Point to Britain tour of the UK. On 23 December 2014, a music video was released for "Criminal", directed by Jordan Green. It was filmed at a sold-out show at the KOKO in London. The band went on a headlining tour of the UK in April with We Are the Ocean and PVRIS as support acts.

On 20 April, the music video for "Words Don't Come So Easily" was released. The song was released as a single on 18 May. On 18 September, the band released "Get Over It". The song had been recorded three weeks prior. On 25 September, a music video was released for the song, directed by Andrew Groves. Thrower came up with the concept for the video, Duce explained that the band have "done a few different bits on this record and I think we wanted something that was direct but also a little more cinematic." In early-to-mid October, the band supported Hands Like Houses in Australia, then supporting them in the US in October and November. On November 6, the band's cover of "A Thousand Miles" was made available for streaming. On November 12, "The Reason" was made available for streaming. The album was reissued with a whole extra disc of bonus tracks, under the name Lower Than Atlantis: Black Edition, on 20 November. The reissue features new artwork. The band went on a tour of the UK in December with support from Moose Blood, As It Is, Brawlers and Black Foxxes.

Reception

In an interview, Duce explained that if the album wasn't well received, it signal the end of the band's career: "Depending on the reaction we get, however, this could well end up being our last album." The album charted at number 14 in Scotland and at number 16 in the UK. "Here We Go" peaked at number 86 in the UK. It spent six weeks on BBC Radio 1's A-list and would later go on to sell 50,000 copies worldwide. "Get Over It" charted at number 181 in the UK. Lower Than Atlantis was included at number 1 on Rock Sound's "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list. The album "saw its creators take their first steps towards the biggest stages the country has to offer."

Reviewing the album for Rock Sound, editor Ryan Bird said the band released "the best album they've ever made" and "possibly the best album you'll hear this year." He noted that all of the songs "present[ed] not only a massive step up in quality" but also "an equally gargantuan sound". The album "disregards everything going on around it, shunning all trends [...] in favour of simply making a great rock album." Bird mentioned that the majority of the songs featured on the album "could easily nestle among the Top 40." Overall, he said it was "a diamond in the rough; an album fully justified of every bit of praise throw its way."

Track listing

Writing credits per BMI and ASCAP.

Personnel

Personnel per physical deluxe edition booklet.