Snow Patrol overcome a bout of writer's block and that the songs written for the new album were scrapped before being replaced by new "mind-boggling" material. On 28 January 2018, the band's social media announced the upcoming release of their seventh studio album, entitled "Wildness", which was released on 25 May 2018. The promotional video simply showed lead singer Gary Lightbody floating on a raft with a piano and seemingly trying to phone someone who is engaged. The success of Snow Patrol has influenced the thriving Belfast music scene positively. This includes Lightbody, who returned to the city and now lives there.
Gary Lightbody previously wrote for "The Irish Times" music section as guest-editor. As an impassioned music fan and DJ, he recommends in his blogs or essays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music. In May 2009, Lightbody commenced writing his music column, "Gary Lightbody's Band of the Week", in the magazine "Q The Music.com". In 2011, he wrote as an essayist for "The Huffington Post". As a songwriter/bandleader, he has written songs and lyrics for a wide variety of artists and genres. In 2000, he formed the Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section, comprising 47 musicians from 20 different bands,