The Afters Declare Life Is Beautiful

Having created huge waves with their 2010 projectLight Up The Sky, chart-topping foursome The Afters will deliver their much-anticipated new studio album, Life Is Beautiful, on April 16. The 12-track project—the band’s 4th overall—comes more than two and a half years after the launch of their previous effort’s success—delivering two No. 1 hits (“Light Up The Sky,” “Lift Me Up”) and a bevy of film and television placements (New Year’s Eve, “The Biggest Loser,” “The Hills,” “Army Wives”).

Joined once again by award-winning producer Dan Muckala (Backstreet Boys, Chris Tomlin, Britt Nicole) for eight of its 12 tracks, the new album draws inspiration from the encouraging promise that God is continuously with us and life is still beautiful no matter what challenges we face. The Texas-borne band—comprised of vocalist-guitarist Josh Havens, guitarist-vocalist Matt Fuqua, bassist Dan Ostebo and drummer Jordan Mohilowski—cites verse James 1:17 as a major source of inspiration for this album.

“Our hope for our record—and a lot of heartache went into this album—is that it will encourage people to see how God is working in their lives,” says Havens. “He’s not just there on the sunny days. No matter what we go through in life, God is still with us and life is beautiful—God is beautiful.”

Life Is Beautiful began with challenging questions the band members posed to themselves. “As songwriters, we never want to make the same album twice,” says Fuqua. “For us we try to go in asking: ‘What can we do that’s different? How can we stretch ourselves?’ It was intentional to be really honest with our audience, and to be honest with ourselves by sharing things that are personal and meaningful.”

The infectious lead single from Life Is Beautiful, “Every Good Thing,” is already being well-received at radio, jumping into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot AC/CHR Chart, Top 20 on the Billboard National Christian Audience Chart and Top 25 on the Billboard AC Monitored and Indicator Charts. 75 stations are already on board for “Every Good Thing” including K-LOVE, AIR 1, SiriusXM, KLTY/Dallas, KSBJ/Houston, KCMS/Seattle, The Fish Los Angeles, KTIS/Minneapolis, JOY FM/St. Louis, The JoyFM Tampa and KXOJ/Tulsa among many others. Commenting on the catchy track Havens says, “We wanted something strong, upbeat and positive. We were looking back over the last year and we were struck by how many times we’d wake up and see those horrific headlines in the news. We’re reminded every day of how many bad things there are in life, so we wanted to write a reminder of how much God is capable of doing.”

In addition, the album’s title track was featured in the 2012 film October Baby.

About The Afters
Texas-based, four-piece band The Afters were propelled into the national spotlight with their INO/Sony Music Label Group debut I Wish We All Could Win. The project spawned the swirling, melodic hit “Beautiful Love,” earning the band an enthusiastic following when the song was selected as the theme track for MTV’s “8th and Ocean.” “Beautiful Love” was also the most downloaded track of 2006 on the iTunes ® Inspirational charts and garnered the band an mtvU award as well. The Afters’ sophomore release Never Going Back To OK (INO/Columbia Records) debuted in the Top 50 on the Billboard Top 200, and proved to be sensation on the silver screen with “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), “Dr. Phil,” “Army Wives” (Lifetime) and “Rachael Ray.” The band’s third record Light Up the Sky bolstered two No. 1 radio hits, as well as placements on “The Biggest Loser” (NBC) and “You Deserve It” (ABC). A slew of media including Rolling Stone, Seventeen.com, E! News Live, TV Guide, Premiere Radio and more also picked up on covering The Afters. The band will release its fourth studio album, Life Is Beautiful, on April 16, 2013 via Fair Trade Services.

Website // www.theafters.com
Twitter // www.twitter.com/theafters
YouTube // www.youtube.com/theaftersvideos
Facebook // www.facebook.com/theafters