The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die Share “Thank You For Being Here”
Today, Connecticut-formed indie band The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (TWIABP) share their live album and documentary ‘Thank You For Being Here’ out now. The live album is available to stream now and you can rent the documentary via Hulu or Amazon Prime. This marks the anniversary of their highly acclaimed 2021 studio album Illusory Walls, lauded by FLOOD as “an album that won’t fade from your memory any time soon.”
The live album and accompanying documentary, ‘Thank You For Being Here,’ are revealing looks at a band hailed by Pitchfork as “a generational voice” in the underground and by Alternative Press as one of the greatest Epitaph bands of all time. The rock doc highlights the band’s raved-about live show – a blissfully cacophonous swirl of energy, anxiety and catharsis – but also acts as a historical time capsule, capturing America’s tentative re-awakening from one of the most surreal events in modern times- as well as documenting the lengths the members of TWIABP are willing to go to continue their life’s passion.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spilled into 2021 and TWIABP wrapped their fourth album, Illusory Walls, the indie/post-rock quintet had no idea when – or if – they’d get to bring their most ambitious set of songs to audiences. So they waited, watching the calendar as tours got scheduled, postponed, rescheduled and canceled. Eventually, the band knew they had to take matters into their own hands, setting out on a headlining tour in October 2021 amidst the greatest personal and professional uncertainty they’d ever faced.
“Every day was a gamble,” bassist/vocalist Joshua Cyr says. “You’d wake up not knowing if you’re going to be able to play the show that night, or if there's even going to be a show to play. The whole thing could’ve gotten canceled at any point.”
Featuring a career-spanning live set, including four songs from the highly lauded Illusory Walls along with a full-length documentary, the collection is set against the backdrop of ever-growing uncertainty and high-stakes travel: the strict set of rules the band set internally, constantly changing protocols across the country, and the perils of international travel.
“We had the entire tour package – 20 people – at one CVS getting PCR tests to allow us cross into Canada,” Dvorak remembers. “They couldn’t verify any of our identities. It was a really stressful time, not even sure if we’d be allowed to cross the border.”
Throughout their acclaimed career, on beloved albums like 2013’s Whenever, If Ever and 2015’s Harmlessness, TWIABP have swirled richly textured Midwestern emo, snarling post-punk, driving alt-rock and droning new wave, seemingly all with ease. But adapting Illusory Walls songs like “Afraid To Die” and “Queen Sophie for President” quite literally in real time, in front of eager crowds, gives Thank You For Being Here a looseness and spontaneity that cements TWIABP as a must-see act.