On Aug. 10, British alternative rock band As It Is released their third full album, “The Great Depression.” The catchphrase of this era for the band is “the crash has come.” This album is a story and should be listened to in order.

As It Is are from Brighton, England, and released their first EP, “This Mind of Mine” in 2014. However, before the band started, lead vocalist Patty Walters ran a YouTube channel, PattyxWalters, where he uploaded covers of songs. This account is also where their original songs were first published. Just one year later, As It Is released their first album “Never Happy, Ever After.” More recently, As It Is released the album “Okay” in 2017.

Their newest work,“The Great Depression,” is a story about a poet and his life. In this story, the poet faces numerous challenges and struggles to find his place in the world.

My top three tracks from the album are listed below, along with the reasoning behind my choices.

“The Great Depression”

The title track from this album is worth the listen even if that is the only song that you listen to. In the song, Walters talks about how the people today are stuck in the world of consumerism. The first line of the song is “Hello consumer” with intricate guitar and drums layered behind it. “Hello consumer” is repeated throughout the song and is the beginning of the chorus.

This song is filled with intense lyrics that hit the listener directly in the chest. The instrumental of the song is a change from their normal music. In “Okay” especially, the band seems to be going for a hard rock sound, while this track relies less on guitar riffs and more on lyrical genius.

“The Wounded World”

This track was the first single from “The Great Depression,” and it is an impressive continuation of the alternative rock sound started by “Okay.” This song has powerful lyrics about how we need to work to save our planet in multiple ways. Walters says that not only do we have physical changes to make, we also have emotional and political changes to make.

Throughout the song, Walters sings of all of the hard things that we need to talk about but are afraid to. He says that since we never talk about mental health issues, the people who have them just feel as if the wound is dug deeper and deeper into them.

“The Handwritten Letter”

This song is an interesting mix. It is hard rock, but also includes the voices of fans underneath the music saying what it means to them, and giving it a softer edge. This song is written as a letter and refers to the poet’s wife. He says that he needs her when he is bruised as well as when he is broken. He begs for her to stay and to keep him in her life.

This song hit me emotionally very hard, as you can feel his pain. Walters uses his voice to express emotion by changing his tone. Throughout this song, Walters maintains a somber and even pained tone which is backed by mellow guitar with aggressive drumming.

The crash is waiting for you on iTunes and Spotify. Download or stream the album to find how you can help the world around you.