It was released through Polydor Records on 14 November 2014 as the lead single from their seventh studio album, III (2014).

The band then went to Los Angeles in May 2014 and locked themselves in a room "for two or three weeks and started to play with sounds" resulting in a much more upbeat energetic song which later became "These Days".

[2] The single received positive reviews upon its first airplay, with Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph calling it 'uplifting' and a 'fun and fuzzy comeback'.

If you didn't actually know someone had left the band, you would never guess from listening to 'These Days', although there might just be a message to the deserter in the opening line: "I can see the future coming to you crying with a sadness in your eyes".

All three - Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen - share vocal duties on the song, a nod to the sound that defined their early years and out-and-out feel-good pop”.

"[5] "These Days" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, knocking Band Aid 30 off the top spot.

The video shows the band getting spray tanned (a homage to Jason Orange), getting perm haircuts and performing in an empty church while the congregation dance around them.