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.
is a pop and psychedelic album that takes influenced from the work of LCD Soundsystem, as well as a period of addiction and self-improvement that Fray went through.
"Heavy Jacket" was released as its lead single in September 2019, followed by "Better Man" in December 2019, which coincided with two one-off shows in London and Manchester.
[4] 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.
[6] In November and December 2018, Courteeners embarked on a tour of the UK, with support from Gerry Cinnamon and Zuzu; during this, they debuted "Better Man", "Heavy Jacket" and "Hanging Off Your Cloud".
[10][11] The title was influenced by Leslie Jamison's book on sobriety, The Recovering: Intoxication and its Aftermath (2018), which Fray had found while in Oregon.
[6] Stewart Mason of AllMusic, the album had a "distinctly dance-friendly sound" inspired by the work of LCD Soundsystem, "focus[ing] on bass grooves and insightful lyrics that marked a late-era maturation for the crew".
[17][18] "Heavy Jacket" opens with a drum beat and piano part that recalls "9 to 5" (1980) by Dolly Parton, eventually shifting to dance-rock.
[8] It comes across as a mix of the Charlatans and Royal Blood; the song includes a reference to actress Caroline Aherne.
[23] In June 2019, the band played two warm up shows with the Coral and Inhaler, leading to an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival.
[9][24] The day after the latter, they performed at Heaton Park in Manchester in front of a crowd of 50,000, with support from James, DMA's and Pale Waves.
[27][28] The following month, the band released a music video for "Heavy Jacket", the first part of a trilogy that comprised the short film Better.
[29] The video features Sarah Beck Mather and Maisy Jones, and sees Fray singing in a nightclub; it was directed by Joe Connor.
[31] The band closed out the year with two one-off shows: Olympia in London on 30 November 2019; and Manchester Arena on 14 December 2019, both with orchestras.
[32] They were supported by the Coral at London and Miles Kane at Manchester; Courteeners were joined by touring member Elina Lin for the shows.
[40] 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 while being operated on, and was also directed by Connor.
[48] 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.
[52] AllMusic reviewer Neil Z. Yeung found the album to be "[s]licker and shinier than its rollicking predecessor", adding that it was "near perfect and not a song is wasted".
[10] Sophie Goodall of The Irish News wrote that the album "ultimately sounds nothing like the Courteeners", noting a variety of instruments.
[22] Hot Press 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".
[20] In contrast, Petridis thought the music offers a "mixed bag", adding that "[y]ou’re listening to a band attempting to push the boat out without scaring anyone off".
peaked at number two in the UK, marking their highest position in their home country, while it topped the Scottish Albums Charts.