Concrete Love

Courteeners released their third studio album Anna in February 2013.[2] It peaked at number six in the UK Albums Chart; out of its three singles, "Lose Control" was the only one to chart, reaching number 82 in the United Kingdom.[3] The band promoted the album with two tours of the UK – one at the start of the year and the other at the end – and special performances at Castlefield Bowl.[4] Frontman Liam Fray and Joe Cross, who had produced Anna, went to Montmartre, Paris to work on demos for the band's next album.[5][6] Cross took his laptop and a few instruments to help them; the pair eventually came up with an album's worth of songs.[5] Following the second UK tour, the band went on hiatus; it did not last long as Fray explained: "the good songs just kept coming and people still seemed quite hungry for us, so we carried on".[7][8] Following this, Fray and Cross went to Whitby to do further work on the demos.[5]

Concrete Love is an indie rock and synth-pop album that expands on the sound of Anna, drawing from 1980s music.[9][10] AllMusic reviewer Matt Collar said the band "delve even deeper into a layered post-punk sound that finds them adding more guitars and even strings on some cuts".[9] Fray described the material as "stories, they come from somewhere. They're a little bit less literal, a bit more abstract [...] I've always been a fan of that kind of kitchen sink style of writing. [...] There are little pockets of abstract dotted around. So there's a bit more, 'Let people make their mind up', I guess, than the last record".[1]

"White Horses" features country-leaning acoustic guitars, backed by industrial beats.[11] On "How Good It Was", Fray explained that "it almost felt like a kind of Beach Boy Motown, as a kind of homage to Danny Zuko and it happened".[1] It is an indie pop song dealing with love during one's childhood years.[12] "Small Bones" describes long distance relationships; the horns heard in evoke the work of Arcade Fire.[10][13] "Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet" is a pseudo-psychedelic track, sung from the perspective of a father to their teenage offspring.[12] "Black & Blue" has a punk rock rhythm echoing the sound of their first two studio albums, St. Jude (2008) and Flacon (2010), with Fray's vocals recalling Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye.[11][13]

With "International", Fray mentioned how he spent more time working on it than any other song on the album: "I just felt very bare and very exposed and I didn’t like it at all. It was difficult".[5] The simplistic lyrics of "Next Time You Call" earned it a comparison to Reverend and the Makers.[13] "Summer" is a 1960s sunshine pop song, while "Saboteur" includes a synthesizer-led breakdown.[11][6] "Saboteur" has robotic-sounding vocals and a psychedelic atmosphere.[13] Fray said "Dreamers" deals with people that are viewed as outsiders from British football: "I’m not just saying it’s a class issue, it’s a taste and a fashion issue too".[5] The closing track, "Beautiful Heads", features a chord progression akin to a Church service.[13] Fray felt "Winter Wonderland" was "custom built for live shows"; he wrote it on a piano at Norah Jones' New York City home, and had previously performed in 2011.[14]

On 20 June 2014, Concrete Love was announced for released in two months' time; the album's track listing and artwork was posted online. Alongside this, "Summer" was made available for streaming.[15] The band held a one-off show at the 100 Club in London, where they debuted five new songs from the forthcoming album.[16][17] The How Good It Was EP was released on 21 July 2014, containing the outtakes "Hometown One", "Sunflower" and "Why Are You Still With Him?".[18][19] The music video for "How Good It Was" was posted on YouTube on 6 August 2014.[20] They supported the Killers for a one-off show in Glasgow and appeared at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.[21] Concrete Love was released on 18 August 2014; a deluxe edition included a DVD of footage filmed during their 2013 Castlefield Bowl performances.[15] "How Good It Was" was released as the album's lead single on 1 September 2014.[22] Courteeners embarked on a tour of the UK, which ran into November 2015, ending with a performance at the Liverpool Arena.[23] The London date was stopped abruptly when a fan lit a flare inside the venue; the band were told by various venues and authorities to stop any performances should someone set off a flare.[24] "Next Time You Call" was released as the album's second single on 10 November 2014.[25]

Courteeners performed at Heaton Park in Manchester in June 2015, marking the first time that a band in three years[26] All 25,000 tickets sold out in 40 minutes; they were supported by Peace, Bipolar Sunshine and Blossoms.[27][28] Following this, Courteeners appeared at the Isle of Wight, Glastonbury, T in the Park and V Festivals.[29][30][31] The music video for "Small Bones" was posted on YouTube on 1 November 2015.[32] The band closed out the year with a UK tour, which ended with five consecutive shows O2 Apollo in Manchester, with support from Declan McKenna and Pretty Vicious.[33][34] "Winter Wonderland" was released as a single on 17 November 2015; the seven-inch vinyl record featured an acoustic version of "Small Bones" as its B-side.[35][36] Ten days later, Concrete Love was reissued under the name Concrete Love – Extra Love, which consisted of the original album, the How Good It Was EP, "Winter Wonderland", a phone recording of "Next Time You Call" and acoustic versions of "Summer", "How Good It Was", "International" and "Small Bones".[37] The music video for "Winter Wonderland" was posted on YouTube on 21 December 2015.[38] Around this time, bassist Mark Cupello left the band and was replaced by Cross.[39]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.6/10[40]
Metacritic	61/100[41]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Gigslutz	[13]
Hot Press	3.5/5[42]
The Irish Times	[10]
The Line of Best Fit	5/10[12]
NME	[43]

Concrete Love was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 61, based on five reviews.[41] AnyDecentMusic? gave it an average score of 5.6, based on six reviews.[40]

Renowned for Sound contributor Andrew Le said aside from a "few shortcomings, the Courteeners’ new album proves why the band has performed well as a live act, as its guitar riffs and choruses should incite sing-alongs at its concerts".[11] The Irish Times writer Lauren Murphy felt the band "fails to offer anything beyond their anthemic indie-rock [...] it’s not quite enough to make these perfectly passable songs remarkable in any way".[10] Sam Willis of The Line of Best Fit ponder if "there['s] anything new here? Absolutely not", explaining that the band had not evolved since their previous work.[12] Gigslutz writer Beth Kirkbride said it felt "very much like it wasn’t left to cook for long enough [...] I’m still hungry after eating it".[13] NME's Barry Nicolson felt that the album's biggest drawback was its "lack of inspiration, perhaps a result of the speedy turnaround between this record and its predecessor".[43]

Concrete Love debuted at number three in the UK Albums Chart, eventually being certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2018.[3][44] It also reached number four in Scotland.[45] "How Good It Was" charted at number 42 in Scotland and number 66 in the UK.[3][46] "Summer" peaked at number 98 in Scotland and number 104 in the UK.[47][48] The track was certified silver by the BPI in 2023.[49]

Courteeners

• Liam Fray – vocals, guitars,
• Daniel Moores – guitars
• Mark Cuppello – bass guitars
• Michael Campbell – drums
• Adam Payne – Keyboards
• Continuous

• Concrete Love at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)