The band wrote, recorded and produced When It Was Now themselves at a studio they built in their hometown of Adelaide. It was mixed by Michael Brauer at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. They also recorded many of the final tracks in hotels in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. In addition, some of the final mixing was done in London. Once their studio was built, the first song that Atlas Genius finished was "Trojans." The song went on to sell over 1,000 tracks per week in the States and soon had 45,000 downloads sold.
Release and promotion
The album was released on iTunes and the band's website on 19 February 2013. The first single "If So" peaked to No. 8 and spent a consecutive 25 weeks on the Alternative Songs chart on Billboard. The single was also featured on the video game by EA Sports, FIFA 13 and was getting praised by Rolling Stone for its "solid sound". The song also got over 75,000 Sound Cloud streams in two weeks. On February 20, 2013, the next single, "Symptoms", was iTunes' single of the week. The single "Trojans" peaked to No. 4 on both Billboard's Alternative Songs and Billboard Rock Airplay charts. It also spent an entire year on both Billboard's Alternative Songs chart. It sold nearly 300,000 tracks in the US alone. On May 3, 2013, "Symptoms" was released as a single. On 17 July 2013, Atlas Genius announced tour dates for the North American "Ones To Watch" tour. The tour began Fall 2013. Atlas Genius performed 26 headlining concerts over a seven-week time span. They were joined on tour with Family of the Year and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and The Colourist.
Reception
The album received mixed to positive reviews for critics. Rolling Stone gave the When It Was Now 3 out of 5 stars, saying "These two Australian brothers deliver Phoenix-like dance pop that's so big on airy hooks that its lyrical lightheadedness isn't too much of a problem." Heather Phares from AllMusic said "When It Was Now is a solid debut that proves Trojans wasn't a fluke." However, Nick Freed from Consequence of Sound said "As it is, When It Was Now has three great songs, four decent, and four forgettable."
