The 2nd single and title track "Side Character In My Own Life" from Better Than The Book's upcoming 3rd full-length album has been released! Listen now along with the first single "Plot Holes", pre-order the album on Bandcamp, and get even more as a patron (including full early access to the album)!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to spring 2025! It's time for another big music release and I'm super happy to finally share the next single (and title track) from Better Than The Book's upcoming 3rd full-length album Side Character In My Own Life! Check it out along with the album cover art below and I hope it blows you away!

Bandcamp: https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/track/side-character-in-my-own-life

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAvNmSILp8

And it's here on Newgrounds as well:

Side Character In My Own Life (the song) is an honest mental deep dive into trying navigate this crazy music industry (especially) as an introvert and at the same time coming to terms with the pandemic shoving all plans aside just when I thought things were starting to look up. It discusses stage fright, anxieties about sharing that art you worked so hard on with the world, feeling like you're not in control and just watching your own life from the sidelines, and not being able to get a word in to get your voice heard (amongst other things). If I'm being candid, musically this track is really my take on a Zebrahead vibe (one of my biggest influences) and I'm really pleased with how it turned out, from my rap delivery (definitely helped working with @Cyberdevil while I was writing this album), to the album artwork which was hand drawn in pen and pencil before some digital touch-ups (and I think is my best yet)! You'll no doubt see the lyrical scenes from Side Character In My Own Life in the artwork while there's also a tonne of lyrical references to find from all the other songs on the album too (at least one per song). All will become clear when you hear it in full)! I hope you enjoy and can find something relatable in both the song and the artwork!

The Side Character In My Own life album is more or less a snapshot of the time in my life since Hopes and Dreams, and with another 5 years of performance, writing, audio engineering and production experience under my belt, I really believe this is my best collective release to date! With the album cover art finished now, apart from some promo preparation and album credits to sort the album is almost ready to be released BUT I thought I'd go all out this time by announcing that along with the usual digital release of the album, I've been working on a simultaneous CD and VINYL release for this album too! As it stands, I've found a service, audio has been provided and I just need to finish off the packaging art and order test prints to check everything is good to go! It's very exciting times and if this all goes well I hope to go back through the BTTB (and Jabun) discographies over the next year or so to bring all my main album project (where possible) to physical media! More details to come soon. Get excited!

In the mean time, Bandcamp pre-orders are now open along with the Side Character In My Own Life and Plot Holes (Radio Edit) single ready to download, and I'll be updating the page with credits, extra information and more as things progress! Due to the lead times on the physical releases, I still don't have a concrete release date just yet, but I'm still aiming for spring / early summer this year and will be announcing the release date (and physical release details) when the 3rd and final pre-release single arrives soon! Check out the track list for the new album below and there's a lot of music still to come:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/side-character-in-my-own-life

Better Than The Book - Side Character In My Own Life

01 - 2020 Was A Write-off, But What Comes Next?

02 - Side Character In My Own Life

03 - Mood Swings

04 - Red Kite

05 - Rewrite

06 - Don't Be Too Hard On Yourself

07 - Hold Me Tight

08 - Bump In The Night

09 - Plot Holes

10 - You'll Never Be Too Old For This

Bonus Tracks

11 - Hearts Racing Backwards

12 - Plot Holes (Alternative Version)

13 - Hold Me Tight (Non-Acoustic)

14 - Side Character In My Own Life (Acoustic)

+ Additional Radio Edits for Tracks 07, 08, 09 & 10

Written, performed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]

No generative A.I. tools were used in the creation of this album.

More album credits and special thanks are to come but for now I'd like to extend an immediate thanks to my family and friends (both online and offline) for their support and a big thanks to the current supporters on Patreon with extra mention to $10+ patrons: Nathan Puray, and Michael White! Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!

Of course my supporters on Patreon are celebrating today with the full download package of the Side Character In My Own Life single which includes Mp3s and artwork, but for the $10 patrons, you have FULL early release access to the entire Side Character In My Own Life album, including artwork, mp3 and WAVs and all bonus tracks right now! If any of that sounds good to you, then consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 today, and remember you'll be getting the full back-catalogue of rewards for your tier when you join, including the full Better Than The Book, Jabun and Nick Standing discographies, bonus Patreon exclusives and much more! Find out more below:

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775794

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775793​

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That about wraps things up for this post and I'll be back in a few days for the usual monthly round-up of news! More Better Than The Book is coming soon as I prepare for this biggest album launch yet and after hearing Side Character In My Own Life and Plot Holes I hope you're as hyped as I am for the rest of the album (and I hope you early access $10 patrons get a kick out of it before anyone else)! Until the next and final pre-release single launch and more, I hope you enjoy the new music and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my music however you can! Take care and get ready for a ska-punk filled summer!