This Life (Take That album)
This Life is the ninth studio album by the English pop band Take That, released on 24 November 2023 as their label debut on EMI. It marks their first studio album in six years since 2017's Wonderland.
The album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart and earned the biggest first-week sales for a British act in 2023.
Background
This Life was announced on 22 September 2023, along with the release of its lead single "Windows" and an announcement of an ensuing tour. The announcement was made on The Radio 2 Breakfast Show with the debut of "Windows". Gary Barlow said of the album, "We made most of the album in Savannah in Georgia, so it had that South sort of influence to it, and it's strange how an environment actually comes out in the music as well." Other portions of the album were recorded in Nashville and New York City.An accompanying UK tour, called This Life on Tour, was announced on 22 September, with tickets going on sale on 29 September. English singer Olly Murs was the supporting act. The single "You and Me" was released on 28 March 2024 in promotion of the tour.
Singles
- "Windows" was released with the announcement of the album on 22 September 2023.
- "Brand New Sun" was released as the second single from the album on 17 October 2023.
- "This Life" was the final single released before the album on 3 November 2023.
- "You and Me" was the first single released from the deluxe edition of This Life on 28 March 2024.
- "All Wrapped Up" was released alongside the announcement of the deluxe edition on 26 April 2024.
- "The Man I Am" was released as a promotional single from the deluxe edition on 29 May 2024.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and earned the biggest first-week sales for a British act in 2023, with 116,000 chart sales, 97% of which were on physical formats. This Life sold the highest number of physical CDs in 2023, having sold more than 100,000 units.Deluxe edition
On 26 April 2024, a deluxe edition of This Life was announced, containing five studio tracks and five live tracks. The edition was released on 24 May 2024. The first single from the edition, "You and Me", had been released prior on 28 March 2024. Alongside the announcement, the single "All Wrapped Up", also from the deluxe edition, was released. "Serenity", while originally a HMV exclusive, is also included on the deluxe edition.Track listing
Notes- signifies a vocal producer
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes.Take That
- Gary Barlow – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, programming, piano, MIDI strings, percussion, synth bass, drum and percussion programming
- Mark Owen – vocals, electric guitar
- Howard Donald – vocals
Musicians
- Ryan Carline – keyboards, synthesizer, programming
- Andy Platts – electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
- Lee Pomeroy – bass
- Donavan Hepburn – drums
- Dave Cobb – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
- Aaron Hoey – slide guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Brian Allen – bass
- Nate Smith – drums, percussion, synth bass
- Philip Towns – keyboards, piano
- Jennifer Decilveo – piano, synthesizer, Mellotron, drum programming
- David Levitt – guitar
- Patrick Kelly – bass
- Sam KS – drums
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – programming
- Ben Mark – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Jamie Norton – keyboards, piano
- Northern Film Orchestra – strings
Technical
- John Greenham – mastering
- Ryan Carline – [Audio Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing (recorded music)|mixing], engineering, vocal engineering, engineering assistance
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – mixing
- Ben Baptie – mixing
- Darrell Thorp – mixing, engineering
- Dave Cobb – mixing
- Andy Platts – engineering
- Cian Riordan – engineering
- Nick Squillante – engineering
- Tess Greenham – mastering assistance
- Sim Ogden – additional engineering
- Ethan Barrette – additional engineering
- Philip Smith – additional engineering
- Kieran Beardmore – mixing assistance
- Matt Wolach – mixing assistance