"There’s been a lot of battles, mainly with myself, but I’m proud of the outcome," says Patty Walters…
As It Is have announced that their fourth album will see the light of day on February 4, 2022 via Fearless. Titled I Went To Hell And Back, it finds Patty Walters and co leaving no creative stone unturned as the singer attempts to process what he and his band have been through over the past couple of years.
"There's been a lot of battles, mainly with myself, but I'm proud of the outcome," he reveals. “As profoundly pessimistic as this record sounds on the surface, it isn't all doom and gloom. Feelings like sadness and hopelessness will eat you alive if you let them. I hope this record is there for anybody feeling as lousy or as inadequate as I was. “
“I don’t relate to happy music – never have, never will,” he continues. “Sad music, it reminds you that you’re not alone. It isn’t going to fix things but sometimes it’s enough to know that other people understand.
"[The album is like] catching up with an old friend. We can talk about all the good and terrible things that have happened, and how we’ve grown from that. We’re not the same band and I’m sure our fans aren’t the same people they were last time we put out an album, but I hope they haven’t forgotten why we were friends in the first place.”
You can check out the video for the first track to be lifted from it, the nostalgic I Miss 2003, now...
Miss those days? Yeah. Patty does, too, and the song's full of references to the songs, culture and banter of 18 years ago.
"This was the last song written for the album, written and tracked in the last two days of recording," he says. "Thematically, there was little left unsaid on the album, which is always a liberating feeling because no risk is off limits anymore. Why not write a love song about the bands that sparked a fire inside you? Why not decorate all the lyrics with band names and song titles? It was a true joy to write, and in its own weird way, it felt like we were writing this in the 2000s. So if you were there, we hope this song takes you back. And if you missed out, we hope this song makes you feel like you lived through it all with us."
