It's Got To Be Now
Studio album by Aloud
Released	April 1, 2014
Recorded	December 12, 2011 December 10–11, 2012 December 20–22, 2012 January 24, 2013 [1]
Studio	Mad Oak Studios, Allston, MA Serious Business, New York, NY
Genre	Indie rock
Length	29:43
Label	Mother West
Producer	Charles Newman, Benny Grotto, Aloud
Aloud chronology
Exile (2010) It's Got To Be Now (2014) Sprezzatura (2020)
Singles from It's Got To Be Now
"A Little Bit Low" Released: December 20, 2013 "It's Got To Be Now" Released: February 26, 2014 "Back Here With Me Again" Released: July 22, 2014 "The Wicked Kind" Released: September 12, 2016

It's Got To Be Now is the fourth studio album by the Boston indie rock band Aloud.^[2] The album was co-produced by Charles Newman, Benny Grotto, and Aloud.^[3]

In a blog post, the band foreshadowed it would be "an album that sounds like a band playing music in a room together", a marked departure from the ornate Exile.^[4] It's Got To Be Now is Aloud's first album of new material with a permanent rhythm section since their 2008 album Fan The Fury. It is also the first Aloud album available on vinyl and their debut on Mother West.

On July 31, 2013, the band announced a Kickstarter campaign to fund the album. Throughout the campaign, live performances of songs "The Wicked Kind", the title track "It's Got To Be Now", "A Little Bit Low", and "Back Here With Me Again" were released. Acoustic versions of "Jeanne, It's Just a Ride!" and "Don't Let It Get You Down" were also posted. The project reached its funding goal on August 21, 2013.^[5]

The album's first single, "A Little Bit Low", premiered online in Elmore Magazine on December 20, 2013, with the music video debuting on February 15, 2015.^[6] A second single, the title track "It's Got To Be Now", debuted at GroundSounds on February 26, 2014.^[7] A music video for the "Back Here With Me Again", the third single, was filmed at Aloud's Boston release show for the album, and was first posted July 22, 2014 on Vanyaland.^[8] It was the first video released in connection with It's Got To Be Now to feature the band.

Recording

Aloud recording It's Got To Be Now at Mad Oak Studios. The vast majority of the album was recorded in this configuration.

After recording "You Will Know" for the Berklee College of Music's BANDED project, Aloud found the prospect of working with Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios to be a very enjoyable, productive experience. The band reconvened at the studio to record "Such a Long Time" in December 2011. At the behest of Grotto, the band recorded the song in the same room without any click track, headphones, or separation of instruments. Plans were made throughout 2012 to return to Mad Oak with Grotto to record a follow-up to Exile once more songs had been written.^[2]

Aloud formally began sessions for It's Got To Be Now at Mad Oak nearly a year later. They recorded nine more songs over the course of two days in the studio. Percussionist Andy G. Wong was invited to record percussion with the band to maintain the live feel of the recording.

The following week, vocalists de la Osa and Beguiristain traveled to New York City to overdub vocals for the album at Serious Business Studios with producer Charles Newman.

Aloud held one more overdub session, at Mad Oak, on January 24, 2013 to overdub "some odds and ends", which included keyboards recorded by Maxwell Butler.^[9]

Track listing

Personnel

Aloud

• Henry Beguiristain: lead vocals, guitars
• Jen de la Osa: lead vocals, guitars
• Frank Hegyi: drums, percussion
• Charles Murphy: bass, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Maxwell Butler: organ, piano
• Ryan Cornell: mixing
• Tony Eichler: mastering
• Benny Grotto: producer, recording engineer
• Thayer Harris: additional engineering on "Such a Long Time"
• Charles Newman: producer, mixing
• Mike Tucker: drums, percussion on "Such a Long Time"
• Andy G. Wong: live percussion

References