On 20 March 2017, Different Days was announced for release.[2] "Plastic Machinery" was made available for streaming on 4 April.[3] A music video was released for the track on 24 April; directed by Ewen Spencer, the clip was filmed in Barcelona, Spain.[4] A remix of the song was done by Sleaford Mods and was made available for streaming on 25 May.[5]Different Days was released on 26 May.[2] On the same day, "Plastic Machinery" was released as a single.[3] To promote the album's release, the band did two acoustic performances.[2] The album was released in Japan through Hostess Entertainment on 2 June and included remixes of "Plastic Machinery" as bonus tracks.[6] "Over Again" was released as a single on 13 October.[7] In November and December, the group went on a headlining UK tour.[8] On 8 December, a music video was released for "Over Again", directed by Ashley Shakibai.[9] An EP, Totally Eclipsing, was released alongside a two-CD edition of the album on 8 June 2018.[10] In September and October, the group went on a headlining North American tour.[11] The album cover photo was taken in Barcelona.
The album was described by David Barnett in The Independent as "possibly their most ambitious project yet".[1] Dave Simpson, for The Guardian, gave it four stars and called it "their best album in 20 years".[16]AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three and a half stars, stating that the band "embrace the elastic possibilities of new avenues here, and the results are rewarding".[14]Pitchfork's Robert Ham gave it 6.0 out of 10, calling it "good but not great".[20] Richard Folland, for PopMatters, also gave it 6 out of 10, describing it as Modern Nature Part 2.[21]
Track listing
All tracks are written by The Charlatans unless stated otherwise
