Snow Patrol have released the extended edition of their acclaimed Number One album The Forest Is The Path, coinciding with the publication of Gary Lightbody’s debut book of the same name through HarperNonfiction. The extended edition features 6 brand new songs, including the previously released ‘But I’ll Keep Trying’ and new single ‘This Is The Silence’.
With the release of this expanded edition, the Northern Irish trio – Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly and Johnny McDaid – further solidify the artistic power of their lauded eighth album, which was released in September last year via Polydor Records. Three decades into a career that has seen them establish themselves as one of the most successful British groups of modern times, ‘This Is The Silence’ is the sound of a band who are in the midst of another exhilarating purple patch. A euphoric singalong lifted skyward by propulsive rhythms, an emotive blend of guitars and piano and the sort of widescreen, affecting chorus that they have long proved themselves masters at, it’s yet more evidence that the band tapped into something special with last year’s chart-topping, Fraser T Smith-produced album The Forest Is The Path. Snow Patrol are in the form of their lives.
Coinciding with the extended album release, Gary Lightbody’s debut book The Forest is the Path was published yesterday through HarperNonFiction. The book explores some of the main themes from the album: time, home, love, death, life. At its heart, it tells the story of Gary’s father, Jack, who sadly passed away in 2019, and the numb journey this sent Gary on – the end of which seemed to unlock a part of him that had been dormant until he started to write songs again. A testament to the healing powers of music, and dotted with lyrics throughout, The Forest is the Path is a strikingly raw and heartfelt insight into the emotional journey behind the band’s latest chart-topping album.
The Forest is the Path is available in hardback, eBook, and audiobook formats. A special signed edition, exclusive to the official Snow Patrol store, is also available.
Gary Lightbody says, “Every time we finish an album I usually feel like there are hardly any words left in me. Not until we go about making the next album. But when we finished recording The Forest Is The Path in February 2024 I realised that there was more I wanted to say. I didn’t know it was going to be a book but I just started writing. The book does, in its own way, tell some of the story of how the album was made but it also talks in more detail about the themes of the record (time, home, love…).
However, most of the book is about a period in my life before we even started writing the album. It focuses on four days after my father’s passing: The day he died, the day after, the funeral, and a year later. For it was a year later that I was able to write again for the first time since he died and the story of the album actually begins. I hope people find the same comfort and relief in the book, that it gave me.”
The Forest Is The Path extended edition tracklisting:
- All
- The Beginning
- Everything’s Here And Nothing’s Lost
- Your Heart Home
- This Is The Sound Of Your Voice
- Hold Me In The Fire
- Years That Fall
- Never Really Tire
- These Lies
- What If Nothing Breaks?
- Talking About Home
- The Forest Is The Path
- But I’ll Keep Trying (NEW SONG)
- This Is The Silence (NEW SONG)
- What’s Left In The Light (NEW SONG)
- Waking Up Now (NEW SONG)
- Falling Through All Of This Time (NEW SONG)
- This Is The Sound Of Your Voice – Will Reynolds Remix (NEW SONG)
After wrapping up a hugely successful, sold-out tour of Europe, the UK, and Ireland, Snow Patrol are heading to North America next week in support of their eighth studio album The Forest Is The Path. A packed summer of festival performances awaits, with headline slots at Latitude and TRNSMT and a Glastonbury performance among their key appearances.
Full list of dates below:
March</>
21st – Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre, CA
22nd – Seattle Paramount Theatre, US
24th – Oakland Fox Theatre, US
25th – Los Angeles The Wiltern, US
26th – Los Angeles The Wiltern, US
28th – Salt Lake City UT Union, US
29th – Denver Paramount Theatre, US
31st – St. Paul Palace Theatre, US
April
1st – Chicago Salt Shed, US
3rd – Toronto History, CA
4th – Montreal Olympia, CA
5th – Boston MGM Music Hall, US
8th – Brooklyn Paramount, US
11th – Washington DC The Anthem, US
12th – Philadelphia The Met, US
18th – Club Social, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
June
12th – Cardiff Castle
13th – Cheshire Delamere Forest
15th – Plymouth Hoe
17th – Westonbirt Aboretum
19th – Cork Virgin Media Park
21st – Belfast Belsonic
26th – Cannock Chase Forest
27th – Scarborough Open Air Theatre
29th – Glastonbury Festival
July
11th – Bospop Festival, Netherlands
13th – TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow
18th – Colours of Ostrava Festival, Czechia
27th – Latitude Festival, Suffolk
August
2nd – Suikerrock Festival, Belgium
8th – Summer Well Festival, Romania