Real Numbers to Release New Album WAS IT ALWAYS THIS WAY

Minneapolis band REAL NUMBERS is set to release WAS IT ALWAYS THIS WAY, a new full-length album, via Slumberland Records. The ten-track collection follows the band's 2021 EP BRIGHTER THEN and draws on the sounds of late-1980s and early-1990s UK indiepop, with multi-layered guitars underscoring lyrical themes of fame, contradiction and self-reckoning.

The album consists of ten songs mixing hope and despair, the future and the past. While picking up where BRIGHTER THEN left off, the emphasis this time is on multi-layered guitars intended to complement the wistful and melancholy tracks with glittering awe. Lyrical themes include modern fame, mixing opposites and reckoning with one's own significance.

This lineup solidified in 2023 and went to work immediately demoing the new tunes, releasing an early version of 'Don't Look Away' on Prefect Records' 227 compilation LP.

By the summer of '24 the band was back at Softcult recording the first batch of songs that would comprise WAS IT ALWAYS THIS WAY, continuing through summer 2026, refining and polishing the tunes into an album that recalls 90s antecedents like Field Mice and St Christopher, as well as fellow pop practitioners like Ducks Ltd, Chime School and The Umbrellas. Album highlights include 'Darling' and 'Never Never Again.'

Real Numbers
WAS IT ALWAYS THIS WAY
(Slumberland Records)
Street Date: Aug. 14, 2026

Tracklist

01 This Empty Frame

02 I Can Tell

03 Darling

04 Star

05 Twist The Blade

06 Don't Look Away

07 Everlasting Happiness

08 Was It Always This Way

09 Never Never Again

10 Remembrance

The album was tracked and mixed at Softcult Studios by longtime producer Matt Castore. Primary songwriter Eli Hansen is joined on the release by a mostly new lineup featuring Andrew Jansen on bass, Sophie Durbin on keyboard and vocals, Fez Felzan on drums and Jeff Cornell on guitar, a configuration that came together in 2023 and began demoing new material before recording sessions continued through the following years.

Photo Credit: Adam Schaburg