In years past, I would have downloaded the new releases from the #NewMusicFriday playlist before leaving the house, departing (as I was today) for my work trip to the capital. The Uber had been pre-booked (Uber call the service ‘Reserve’) days before for super early 6:30am departure. Downloading them while still having access to my home network would have made sense and not relying on patchy 5G when out on the road. Instead, I only opened Spotify once I was let in by security into a dark empty office. After putting on most of the lights, using the switches in the mail room, I booted up my laptop and opened up Spotify. I had time to kill. I had to wait for the receptionist to arrive to remind me on how to switch on the coffee machine. (I wanted to use the filtered hot water tap for a cup of tea. Ignoring the kettle). As usual I scroll down the list of the automatically generated Release Radar, which uses bands that I follow on the platform to generate a dynamic list of all the new releases. I look out for bands I like and wonder what new they have to offer. The artwork for this playlist was DJ Calvin Harris with long locks in meditation mode (see below!). Sixth on the list was Oh No! by All Time Low. I was not sure what to expect and if anything the song title threw me off – I expected a much lower tempo song. Their new releases related to the new album had not really hit me that well compared to some of there more recent material. I had saved The Weather into my library but only listened to the song once or twice.

However, as soon as I heard that first note, I was hooked. This was my jam. I have probably mentioned this multiple times before, but there are moments in your life when you hear a song, particularly for the first time, and you feel that it was written for you, for that moment. All Time Low have been the soundtrack of my life for over sixteen years. I discovered them while waiting to catch an EasyJet flight from London Gatwick to Valencia way back in August 2009.

I must be honest, I haven’t been myself in recent weeks. Perhaps it is that feeling as we head out of summer into autumn. Even though September is my favourite month of the year (yes, I was one of those weirdos who enjoyed going back to school after the six-week break!) I was missing that special sauce, that X factor and so here come the band from Towson, Maryland, to brighten not just my mood on this Friday morning but my entire outlook for the weekend and beyond. You can rely on the ultimate power of music to change your perspective on anything and everything, within a mere three minutes and thirteen seconds. What could you truly achieve if you put your mind to it in that brief window?

I have not noticed that artists now place a countdown on their album release page, giving us premium users the option to pre-save the album. I am probably not the demographic that would be anticipating a new album. I knew they were working on new material, but I did not expect it to be released until next year. Coincidentally, the release date falls on my son Logan’s seventh birthday. Oh No! is track four, while the previous singles released in recent weeks are tracks #3 (SUCKERPUNCH) and #5 (The Weather), respectively. The titles of the remaining twelve tracks are unknown.

Update: On Tuesday 9th September as I have played the song excessively on Spotify over the course of the weekend, the platform has become self aware and changed not only the artist image on the Release Radar public playlist but also moved Oh No! from sixth to first. Do you not just love technology!

I’m back on my feet
Dancing through the week
I’m over the rain clouds
Blue skies on repeat
Been eating healthy, touching grass and
Drinking happy, not to cope
I’m letting go of all my toxic traits
And holding hope

Trying my hardest to make progress
To be someone I can live with
But what if it’s the madness in the man
That makes the music?
And we knew this would be fruitless
All my greatest hits the bullsh*t
That I tell myself I’m good with
Till I’m not good anymore