A Certain Ratio Announce New Album ‘It All Comes Down To This’

A Certain Ratio Announce New Album 'It All Comes Down To This'

Legendary Manchester post-punk/funk band A Certain Ratio have announced the release of their thirteenth studio album ‘It All Comes Down To This‘.

Produced by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey, the 10-track record will be out on April 29 via Mute Records. Pre-order your copy here.

It All Comes Down to This, for now at least, is the sound of the current incarnation of A Certain Ratio. Indeed, in many senses, it is the purest distillation of their essential sound ever committed to tape. It is the first time ever they have recorded strictly as the core trio of principle band members – multi-instrumentalists Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson.

From the moment the rattling, call-to-arms drumroll intro of opener ‘All Comes Down to This’ gives in to a wall of slithering, watery guitar squawks and bounding, rubbery bass notes, it is obvious that A Certain Ratio have once again been able to tap into a new artery of life. 

As a snapshot of where A Certain Ratio stand in 2024, It All Comes Down to This is a towering testament to their staying power. For a band whose path has intersected with the lives of Joy Division, The Fall, Talking Heads, Madonna and Grace Jones, to now be immersed in their most creative and prolific period since the early 1980s, after 45 years together, puts the great majority of their contemporaries to shame. But then again, when you have always been preoccupied with laying the groundwork for your next steps, you’re unlikely ever to derive much satisfaction from standing still. 

Check out “It All Comes Down To This” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and artwork.

A Certain Ratio “It All Comes Down To This”
‘It All Comes Down to This’ tracklist:
  1. All Comes Down to This
  2. Keep It Real
  3. We All Need
  4. Surfer Ticket
  5. Bitten by a Lizard
  6. God Knows
  7. Out From Under
  8. Estate Kings
  9. Where You Coming From
  10. Dorothy Says

The band have also announced an extensive UK tour for spring 2024.

ACR Live Dates

25 April – Huddersfield, The Parish
26 April – Leeds, Brudenell
27 April – Blackpool, Bootleg Social
28 April – Edinburgh, Summerhall
29 April – Aberdeen, The Tunnels
1 May – Norwich, Arts Centre
2 May – London, Fabric
3 May – Bedford, Esquires
4 May – Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
5 May – Brighton, Concorde 2
9 May – Birmingham, Castle & Falcon
10 May – Hull, Social
11 May – Sheffield, Foundry
12 May – Bristol, Exchange
17 May – Manchester, New Century Hall

Photo credit: Debbie Ellis