Prior to making his third studio album, Elderbrook struggled to find time to write amidst a heavy touring schedule. This time, the English artist (born Alexander Kotz) intentionally carved out space for himself, allowing for the full-brain immersion he’d only experienced during lockdown. From this process, his first concept record emerged. Another Touch is framed as “a journey of self-discovery” on which the album’s down-and-out central character finds their way back home, reflecting on life and lessons learned along the way. With his crystalline vocals and help from collaborators (George FitzGerald, Carlita, Shimza, et al.), Elderbrook transforms tales of struggle, loss and overindulgence into hands-in-the-air festival jams, inviting catharsis on the dance floor. “Is it what you wanted?/Did you even try?” he asks himself on the rippling “Shallow Water”, engaging in an internal dialogue that battles the desire to change against the weight of self-doubt. Other songs, like the brooding “Afters” and trance-leaning “Wait for You”, exist in a haze between love and loss. The album hits an emotional peak among the charged-up synths and urgent rhythm of “One More Before I Go”, a desperate self-reckoning shouted from the edge of self-destruction. As the album winds through darker emotional valleys, it also offers moments of release, such as in the breezy “Sunshine”, which savours the final moments of a magical night with someone before dawn marks a new day, and “Glad I Found You”, a bittersweet embrace of the beauty and impermanence in human connection. Closing with “Places”, Another Touch delivers a warm and nostalgic ode to home and the places that ground us, even in our hardest moments.