Anna

Product Information

At the end of the year, the band played three UK shows in their hometown of Manchester in December 2011. The touring cycle for the album concluded by December 2010; frontman Liam Fray said the band would take a brief break before starting to work on their next album. The song was released as the album's second single on 6 May 2013; the seven-inch vinyl edition featured a live version of "Last of the Ladies" as its B-side, while the digital download version included "Let Down Your Guard" and a remix of "Van Der Graaff". They ended the year with another UK tour, and the release of the album's third and final single "Are You in Love with a Notion? The album's closing song "Here Come the Young Men" features guitar riffs in the style of the Vaccines.

AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares said the album follows the "polished, anthemic vein" of Falcon, while "bring[ing] back some of the swagger [from their debut] that was missing from those songs". PopMatters contributor Ben Olson saw Anna as being "every bit as infectious as their impressive debut, but it is bigger, glossier, and clearly intended to be played in massive, sold out stadiums". The album was promoted with two tours of the UK, as well as various festival appearances, including Glastonbury, Isle of Wight and T in the Park. Fray described the final artwork as attempting to "convey that kind of elegance but a bit more industrial".Fray intentionally wanted to work with someone within the members' age range; he met Cross while at a party, who inquired about what new material the band had. evokes the sound of Doves, and describes a woman who enjoys the idea of love than the person she is with. Push Yourself" is reminiscent of the disco-rock direction of Two Door Cinema Club and Franz Ferdinand. It evolved out of "Gin on Friday", a song that dated back from the period of their 2007 debut single "Cavorting"; while "Gin on Friday" revolved about being in one's late teens, "Here Come the Young Men" saw the band "looking back over those years, but also saying that we’re not finished yet".

Four days later, the artwork was revealed, showing a woman in front of cooling towers, wearing sunglasses with a reflection of a horse in them. Though originally scheduled for 28 January 2013, "Lose Control" was released as the album's lead single a month early on 10 December 2012; the seven-inch vinyl record edition featured "Chipping Away" as its B-side. Between June and August 2012, Courteeners appeared at the Chester Rocks, T in the Park and Reading and Leeds Festivals festivals, as well as a one-off show in Manchester to coincide with that year's Olympic Games. Though Anna was in the running to top the UK Albums Chart during the mid-week, it ultimately peaked at number six, losing out to the Les Misérables soundtrack. Discussing "The Sharks Are Circling", Fray said over time the guest list for their shows would get "longer, you recognise less and less people, and I just started to put my foot down.It has been two years since Courteeners last album Falcon, which charted at number 6 and followed the bands number 4 debut album St Jude.

Sometime after, they had accumulated six-to-seven new songs, though Fray was unsure of what direction they would take.

BBC Music's Natalie Hardwick noted that the album was "strategic in its experimentation, but represents a fairly dramatic departure from its makers’ brand, so hats off to that". On 8 November 2012, Anna was announced for release in three months' time; alongside this, the album's track listing was posted online. We carry a broad range of CDs and vinyl (7”/12” singles and LPs) and specialise in indie, alternative, rock, punk, metal plus a few other genres.