Asking Alexandria: Seven things you need to know about ‘Like A House On Fire’

ASKING ALEXANDRIA have added a sixth studio album to their collection! Like A House On Fire is different to anything they’ve released before and will send shockwaves through the scene. If you’re yet to dive into their new effort, here’s everything you should (or maybe didn’t) know about the new album, without spoiling too much of course.

1. The singles could have been a lot different

In our sit-down with Ben Bruce (not an actual sitdown, of course, social distancing and all that) he commented that the whole record was “written with a live audience in mind” so many of the singles released were strategically done for live consumption and perhaps could have been different had they of known about the lockdown. “The plan was that we’re going to be on tour so the songs we planned to release had a lot of energy,” he also mentioned that the songs on this album are “deep to some extent, there’s a lot to take in lyrically and I think there’s quite a strong message. So I think with Down To Hell we didn’t want to give much of record away so we put out easily digestible songs, songs that didn’t require too much thought they just had good energy in a live setting.”

2. The album art is unlike any other

Bruce gushed about the album art, stating that with previous records they’d either sourced a photograph like the iconic Reckless and Relentless or taken it themselves like Stand Up And Scream. Whereas with Like A House on Fire the band worked with their artist, Brian, to create something that for the first time ever is a visual representation of its lyrical content. “I can’t think of anything worse than someone coming into the studio-like ‘hey, we’ve got this vision created for you’ like I wanna create my own vision,” Bruce explains. “We didn’t want to take any artistic freedoms from this artist, basically, I said here’s the record and here are some lyrics, what does this say to you? He came back with these tarot card ideas, it was really quite cool because he said he picked a lot of imagery that went back to our English roots which I really really liked, you’ll see St George’s Cross on there and stuff like that. But also, he said he read the lyrics and he said that he found so many lyrics that stood out to him that he related to so he took different tarot cards meanings, tore them apart and pieced them all together for the album artwork to sort of tell the tale of the lyrics throughout this record. I think it’s actual, for the first time ever, a visual representation of the lyrical content and the story the album tells.”

3. They worked with Grace Grundy, previously featured on Love Island

Bruce shared his love for the track I Don’t Need You, said to be an optimistic self-love ballad, and called upon upcoming British singer Grace Grundy to feature on the track. “She’s absolutely phenomenal but my wife was watching Love Island and when I say my wife, I mean me and my wife were watching Love Island. I can’t remember what season it was but a few years ago her voice kept popping up in the background music and I thought ‘man who is this singing? her voice is just unreal.'” Bruce says that the song is “really powerful” and is “going to speak to a lot of people”, they wanted Grace to feature to tell the other side of the story from her perspective.

4. She was also a fan of the band before working with them

Bruce describes their collaboration like the stars aligning. Upon working with Grace, it turns out she was an ASKING ALEXANDRIA fan, who had planned to see them when filming their Live At Brixton DVD. “She was meant to go with her boyfriend but her boyfriend ended up taking someone else, and she said that was the moment she really started singing and pouring her emotions into music so we were actually a big part of her musical journey and we were like ‘man this is perfect!'”

5. You need to listen to some tracks really closely

The devils in the details with this album. The band has gone above and beyond with including soundbites and samplings in tracks that can sometimes be more obvious, like in the ticking clock at the start of They Don’t Want What We Want (And They Don’t Care), but there’s some hidden gems across the album that are worth noting. Bruce said that if you listen closely to Down To Hell, nearing the end as it begins to fade out you might hear the line “the eye of satan.”

6. This is their strongest songwriting since Stand Up And Scream
In an interview with Kerrang! Bruce shared his excitement for the album, claiming that this is the strongest his songwriting has ever been. “I think the guitar riffs are the biggest I’ve ever written. I love what we’ve done, and there’s something for everyone in it: there are heavy sections, there are sing-along sections, there are a lot of jumping, energetic sections, there are dance sections. When people listen to the journey and come along for the ride, they’re going to experience a vast number of emotions from start to finish.”

7. The singles they’ve already put out now are insane.

Prior to release, the band has released The Violence, Antisocialist, They Don’t Want What We Want (And They Don’t Care), and more recently Down To Hell. Chatting to Rocksound, Bruce compares Down To Hell to something from their old From Death To Destiny-era. “We all have a rebellious side and Down to Hell is a big ol’, rebellious rock n roll song reminiscent of From Death to Destiny. From the minute the song starts to the very last note the energy doesn’t stop! It’s a headbanger from start to finish and I cannot wait to play this one live!”

Like A House On Fire is out now via Sumerian Records. 

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