Only The Poets have always had a knack for turning bruised hearts into communal therapy sessions, but And I’d Do It Again finally gives them the space to lay everything out properly. It opens with the short, cinematic intro “And I’d Do It Again”, less a song and more a deep breath, easing you into the emotional rollercoaster ahead. Then comes the first real punch: “Monumental”, a track so instantly catchy you can already imagine it being screamed back from the crowd. Electric guitars hum underneath lines like “so quickly you found someone, guess the loneliness weighed too much for you” and the quietly devastating “excuses, the truth is, losing me was monumental.” It’s heartbreak delivered with confidence, wounded, but self-aware.
From there, the album settles into the messy aftermath of love gone wrong. “Emotionally Hungover” captures that foggy, overthinking headspace where feelings linger longer than they should, while “Thinking Bout Your Ex” leans into woozy, cinematic production, soundtracking the uneasy spiral of comparison and jealousy that no one likes to admit to. It’s vulnerable without ever tipping into self-pity, which feels like a defining strength across the record.
Tracks like “Saké” and “Madeline” add bite and momentum, carrying a restless energy that feels made for live rooms, while “Freeze” and “SAY!” inject urgency, the kind of songs that make sense when bodies are packed shoulder to shoulder and every lyric is shouted in unison. There’s also a darker emotional thread running through moments like “God Knows Where You Were” and “Don’t Wanna Know”, where unanswered questions are left hanging, intentionally unresolved.
“You Hate That I’m In Love” is a clear standout and easily my favourite on the album. It’s euphoric, freeing, and endlessly replayable, giving dancing-in-your-bathroom-after-a-breakup energy, when you finally realise they were the problem, not you. It feels like the emotional turning point of the record. From there, “Bad” and “I Keep On Messing It Up” lean into self-reflection, embracing flaws and patterns instead of pretending growth is linear.
The album closes with “Guess She’s Cool”, a bittersweet sign-off that doesn’t offer neat closure so much as acceptance, and that feels exactly right. And I’d Do It Again isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about sitting with the feelings and still choosing to move forward.
That emotional honesty is exactly why Only The Poets continue to resonate so deeply. These songs feel lived-in, shared, and unfiltered, not abstract stories, but truths people recognise instantly. It lands at a huge moment for the band too. Earlier this year, they sold out O2 Academy Brixton in just ten minutes and sparked a wider conversation around accessibility in live music with their headline-making £1 show, supporting the LIVE Trust.
With album release events lined up across Manchester, Reading, Southampton, London, and Birmingham, these songs are clearly built to be experienced together, sung loudly, felt deeply, and shared in rooms full of people who get it.
And I’d Do It Again feels like a debut from a band who know exactly who they are: emotionally honest, melodically sharp, and completely unafraid to feel everything.
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