People have many different coping mechanisms when it comes to mental health- Patty Walters, lead singer of As It Is, turns to his music. Okay is the Brighton-based band’s second studio album and was partially written by Patty during a rough patch whilst touring on the US run of Van’s Warped Tour in 2015.
Writing from his experiences and feelings, many of the songs on the album deal with difficult issues such as loss, divorce and heartbreak. These themes are contrasted with happy, upbeat images from the 1950s, a style chosen deliberately for the album artwork and promotion.
This cheery style is also shown through the albums sound, with opening song ‘Pretty Little Distance’ being very melodic whilst also talking about coping with life being overwhelming. This song also starts the albums running theme of “It’s okay not to be okay”, with Patty’s feelings being described in each verse, followed by “But that’s alright.”
Alongside Patty, Ben Langford-Biss, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band, lends his voice more often to this album than any the band have made before, with two songs written by him.
One of these is ‘Austen’ named after Ben’s grandfather, who has recently been ill in hospital. This is a heartfelt song describing Ben’s feelings towards his grandfather’s worsening condition and his vocals feature heavily in this. Lyrics such as “Give me strength to watch you leave” make for an extremely moving song, clearly coming from a place of great worry and fear for Ben. Family is a recurring theme in this album, with catchy ‘Hey Rachel’ penning a message to Patty’s younger sister.
Although this album has some heavy themes, the songs are still easy to listen to. ‘No Way Out’ uses tuneful melodies alongside lyrics describing Patty’s feelings during a time of great pain and the song is almost a way to vent away his hurt. The venting in this song is also evident when Patty begins to half shout the lyrics in an almost Pierce The Veil scream style. Speaking of the South American alternative band, ‘Soap’ is a song which sounds like Pierce The Veil themselves played guitar for.
Something As It Is have always had nailed is their guitars, with all their albums and EPs so far having some of the strongest instrumentals in pop-punk. ‘Patchwork Love’ is a brilliant example of this as, despite being a song about heartbreak, the guitar melodies make for an upbeat and catchy song. With four other songs on the record, such as the slow-paced ‘Still Remembering’ and beautiful ‘Curtains Close’, Okay is an album filled with a huge variety of songs.
As It Is have made it clear in their promotion that they want to emphasise mental health issues and the stigma that surrounds them.
Words by Anna Gregory