In December 2010, the band began recording their thirteenth studio album, entitled "A Brief Crack of Light", in Newcastle's Blast Studio. The album recording was completed in February 2011 and mixing began in March. In late May 2011, the group announced a change of plan for the new album; another recording session was planned for June in order to record new songs that had emerged. Those songs were mixed in July 2011 and included, along with songs from the first session, for the new album. The album was released in February 2012. A preceding single and video entitled "Living in the Shadow of the Terrible Thing" was released in January 2012.