Draft:Never Happy, Ever After X

Never Happy, Ever After X is the fifth studio album by British-American pop-punk band As It Is, released 17 April 2025 by Slam Dunk Records.^[5] The album is a re-creation of their debut album Never Happy, Ever After as a 10 year celebration of the album's release. Never Happy X is also the band's first after guitarist Benjamin Langford-Biss and drummer Patrick Foley rejoined after leaving in 2019 and 2020 respectively.^[6][7] Also, Never Happy, Ever After X marks the end of Ronnie Ish's tenure in the band, making their previous studio effort, 2022's I Went to Hell and Back, the only album featuring the trio of Ish, Testo, and Walters.

Never Happy, Ever After X also features 13 artists across the 11 songs, including Kellin Quinn, Noahfinnce, and Sum 41's Dave 'Brownsound' Baksh.^[5] It is also the first album to feature previous member Andy Westhead as a writer since 2017's Okay (album).

Style and reception

"Never Happy, Ever After X" Ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
"Hive Magazine"	[8]
"Distorted Sound Magazine"	7/10

Danni Baker from Hive magazine praised the return of Foley and Biss by stating " After several line-up changes over the years and even a brief hiatus, original members Patty Walters, Ben Biss, Ali Testo and Patrick Foley are back, and honestly it’s as if they never left!" Following this, she also stated that "The band themselves have grown up and grown as musicians and this is evident in the record’s new, updated sound." hinting at a more progressive sound from the original version of Never Happy, Ever After in 2015. Baker also singles out Sorry X and Drowning Deep in Doubt as "both perfect examples of what As It Is do best. Upbeat, catchy tracks that make you want to move, which are then paired with emotional lyrics that hit hard." Also singling out Dial Tones X stating "They really leaned into more post hardcore elements on this version."^[9]

Distorted Sound Magazine's Sammy Andrews talks about the featured vocals in the songs Speak Soft X and Sorry X, stating that Kellin Quinn "blasts out and immediately hits with an equal measure of energy and nostalgia" and Mikala Delgado "weav[es] vocal melodies from delicate spins on lines to powerful belts, and add[s] a distinct flair to the track."As well as this, Andrews notes "vulnerability, rawness, and the candour" as a reason Never Happy, Ever After recieved acclimation between the release, and 10 year anniversary re-release.^[10]

In a slightly more critical review, Sêan Reid of Already Heard says " unless you were an admirer of some of ‘Never Happy, Ever After’s deeper cuts or the guest contributors, you’re unlikely to take anything away from it."^[11]

Track listing

Personnel

As It Is

• Patty Walters – vocals, guitars, keys
• Benjamin Biss – vocals, guitars
• Alistair Testo – bass, vocals,
• Patrick Foley – drums, vocals

Additional musicians

• Kellin Quinn – vocals on Speak Soft X
• Mikey Chapman – vocals on Cheap Shots and Setbacks X
• Alex Adam – vocals on Cheap Shots and Setbacks X
• Alex Costello – vocals on Cheap Shots and Setbacks X
• Mikaila Delgado – vocals on Sorry X
• Joe Caberra – vocals on Drowning Deep in Doubt X
• Lucas Woodland – vocals on Dial Tones X
• Dave 'Brownsound' Baksh – lead guitar on My Oceans Were Lakes
• Rachel Walters – vocals on My Oceans Were Lakes
• Tobi Duncan – vocals on Concrete X
• Leander Reader-Gloversmith – gang vocals on Concrete X
• Rae Brazill – vocals on Turn Back to Me X
• NoahFinnce – vocals on Can't Save Myself X
• Joseph Reo – vocals on Silence X
• Rob Freeman – vocals on Silence X
• Ella Meadows – vocals on You, The Room & The Devil on Your Shoulder

Technical

• Patty Walters – producing and mastering
• Ben Biss – co-production
• Grant Berry – Mastering
• Ben Weller – vocal engineering (5)
• Euan Jones – vocal engineering (8)
• ST£FAN – vocal engineering (9)

References