Happiness Is is the sixth studio album by American rock band Taking Back Sunday. Before the release of their self-titled album in mid-2011, the group had started working on its follow-up. Throughout the rest of the year, and 2012, band members mentioned in interviews they had various song ideas and tracked demos with producers Marc Jacob Hudson and Mike Sapone. In early 2013, the group spent two weeks in West Virginia, during which they wrote songs for the new album. Satisfied with how the demos turned out, they decided to bring in Hudson and Sapone to record their new album. In June and July, the band recorded at Rancho Recordo in Fenton, Michigan with Hudson.
In August, the group announced they had signed with independent label Hopeless Records. Following a break, the group continued recording with Sapone at his studio Sapone Productions in New York between August and October. Embarking on a US tour in late 2013, the group debuted two new songs, "Flicker, Fade" and "Beat Up Car". Adam Lazzara left the tour due to the early birth of his son, but later returned. Happiness Is was announced in mid-January 2014, which coincided with the release of "Flicker, Fade" as a single. A music video was released for the track later in the month. "Stood a Chance" was released as a single, as was a music video for the track, in early March.
Preceded by an audio stream, Happiness Is released on March 18 through Hopeless Records. It received generally favorable reviews from critics. Selling 22,000 copies in the first week, the record debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. In addition, it also charted within the top five on other Billboard charts, and in Australia and the UK. The band embarked on a co-headlining tour with the Used in the US in April and May, Australia in August, and again in the US in September and October. A music video for "All the Way" was released in mid-November. The group closed the year with a UK/Europe tour with Marmozets and Blitz Kids. The album was reissued in February 2015 digitally and as a 7" vinyl box set with bonus tracks. Between February and April, the band went on a US tour with the Menzingers and Letlive. In May, a music video for "Better Homes and Gardens" was released, and the group performed at the Slam Dunk Festival in the UK.
Background Prior to the release of Taking Back Sunday in June 2011, the band had begun work on their sixth album. While on tour to support the self-titled album, the group were constantly working on new material. Vocalist Adam Lazzara said, "This is where everybody's head is at; it's not like, 'Oh, we're getting back together and doing a reunion record.' ... We're definitely moving forward and into the future." He added that a few outtakes from the self-titled sessions could be "stepping stones towards our future record ... [A few] ideas we were kicking around that never really got the attention they needed." In November, Alternative Press reported that the band were writing new music. The following month, bassist Shaun Cooper said the group had dedicated three days solely to writing material, adding that they "mess[ed] around with different time signatures."
In a February 2012 interview with Ultimate Guitar Archive, guitarist Eddie Reyes claimed they had "a lot of music", but added that they "tend to change things along the way"; he was optimistic about it appearing on their next album. He mentioned they had written "some ideas", and they were "putting them aside" and working on them when time permitted. He also said the group was aiming to record their next album in 2013. In March 2012, it was reported that the band had demoed material at a studio in Michigan with Marc Jacob Hudson. In May, drummer Mark O'Connell posted that the group were recording demos in New York with Mike Sapone. In an interview with AbsolutePunk in July, Reyes and Cooper revealed that the group had been demoing further material. Cooper said, "The new stuff we've been writing will far surpass [the self-titled]."
In October and November, the group toured to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album Tell All Your Friends (2002). During an interview promoting the tour, Lazzara revealed that they had been working on new material: "It's really just a whole bunch of ideas that we're working on, solidifying."Fuse Staff 2012, event occurs at 2:47–53 Following the end of the tour, the group took a break.Fuse Staff 2012, event occurs at 2:54–56 In February 2013, the group went to West Virginia and wrote material for their next album, at what Lazzara said was at "a really old colonial house" that was located "on top of this mountain." Since all the members lived in different states—Lazzara and Nolan in North Carolina, Reyes in Ohio, and O'Connell and Cooper in New York—Lazzara said they went to this house as it was "kind of out of the way" and had few distractions. The group was there for around two weeks and, according to Lazzara, the cabin fever "really helped with some of the songwriting."
Production Lazzara said that by the time the group was going to record their next album, "we thought things went so well when we were demoing with [Hudson and Sapone], so if it ain't broke, don't fix it." He added, the pair were "just two guys we felt really comfortable with because they were our friends first." Though Sapone had been a friend of the band since their early days, the sessions marked the first time he had produced any album tracks. Hudson, who Lazzara called "a great friend of ours", had been touring with the band for a number of years. Lazzara said the group were initially worried that the album "might ... not sound cohesive" having been recorded in parts with different producers. On June 7, 2013, the band began recording at Rancho Recordo in Fenton, Michigan with Hudson. Following a few weeks of pre-production, O'Connell and Cooper tracked their parts, followed by Reyes in late June. In July, Lazzara and Nolan entered the studio for further work on the album.
Lazzara said Hudson and Jeffrey had "this really eclectic collection of gear, so we’ve been playing with it all." He added, he had been "sitting off and on with this little vocoder, which is so much fun to play." He also said that with a variety of instruments "[e]ach one has its own unique sound, and Hudson’s really good at capturing that." Lazzara said the group were unsigned when they entered the studio, which meant "there wasn't an outside influence ... It allowed us to try stuff that we typically wouldn't have tried." Nolan said when recording their self-titled album, the group's label heard recordings and would provide feedback, "so we wanted to just do something that the only influence came from the band and the producers." When recording his vocals, Lazzara says he tries "not focus so much on singing pitch perfect, but more on the delivery of it." With Hudson, the group recorded "Stood a Chance", "Beat Up Car", "They Don't Have Any Friends", "Better Homes and Gardens", "Like You Do", "We Were Younger Then", "How I Met Your Mother" and "Can You Feel (Here I Am)". Lazzara said Hudson "pays a lot of attention to detail in the songs themselves."
Ray Jeffrey handled additional vocal production and recording with assistance from Nathan Cogan. By August, the group were halfway done with the album, according to Lazzara. They took a break before going to Long Island, New York, where they recorded with Sapone producing, at his studio Sapone Productions. In mid-August, the group went into pre-production with Sapone. They recorded "Preface", "Flicker, Fade", "All the Way", "It Takes More", "Nothing at All" and "This Is Happening". Lazzara said Sapone was "more about capturing the mood." Dylan Ebrahimian contributed violin and electric violin, and Teddy Schumacher contributed cello. In October, guitarist John Nolan said that recording was done and the album was in the mixing stage. Claudius Mittendorfer mixed the album at Atomic Heart Studio in New York City. It was mastered by Stephen Marcussen and Stewart Whitmore at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California. In retrospect, Nolan said that sessions with both producers "went really great ... It made for a more comfortable environment ... It all felt organic and natural."
Music and lyrics Overview Lazzara looked through lyrics in an attempt to "find a phrase...that really stood out" for the title, however, he says "nothing really popped up...as the thing that should sum up the record." He eventually went with the title Happiness Is, as it was "kind of a blanket statement about where the band is right now." He said Happiness Is was "a great representation of us as a band right now", and that while it featured elements of their past work, they "always want to be moving forward." He also explained that the group went into writing with the mindset of "we're going to try every single idea that everyone has and we're going to see what sticks." He added that "through that, it allowed us to have fun with "All The Way" or "Nothing At All" or even "We Were Younger Then"". Nolan viewed the album as being "a little more diverse" then the self-titled. He added, "there's more ups and downs" compared to the Taking Back Sunday, where "every song was ... mid-tempo to up-tempo." Lazzara mentioned that the songs have been "more autobiographical, I think. For both [Nolan] and I."
Nolan said that there were a few songs where they "kind of just experimented with stuff that we never had before." He referred to "a little bit of an alt-country rock vibe that has crept in. Not over the top, but definitely a little bit into that territory." Nolan said that the Sapone-produced tracks sound "a lot more of a departure from what the band has done in the past." Lazzara mentioned that they had been pressured into writing "the right single" in the past, and "when you take that pressure out of the equation, those types of songs just appear." The group found it difficult to pick a track list for the album, as Nolan explained, "We do it very democratically, so there’s a lot of different opinions, and we went through all these different phases of, 'All right! This is it! We’ve got it now!' and then a week later, we’d totally change our minds on things." He added that on one occasion the group thought they would release it as a 13-track album, because they were unable to omit any songs. Critics have described the album's sound as alternative and pop rock, with elements of pop and punk rock.
Songs "Flicker, Fade" was the first song written for the album. Lazzara said when they "listened to it we knew we were on the right track." He added that the song "kinda shaped what Happiness Is would become." He mentioned that the verses had existed for a while and went through a number of changes. When Nolan brought in the, what he called, "destroy what you create" section, Lazzara said "the song completely changed and took off." He called "Stood a Chance" "an upbeat poppy tune", and said it was "juxtaposed with a darker lyrical content." O'Connell came up with the main guitar riff for "Better Homes and Gardens", one of the songs that was written in West Virginia. Lazzara said they "just started writing it one day and worked back and forth" and that the lyrics "sort of happened right then."