Prior to recording Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, the band was considering calling it quits until a major revitalisation occurred.
In addition to the warm critical response the band received for their fourth album, The Twilight Sad was chosen by Robert Smith to be the supporting act for The Cure on their May/June 2016 North American tour, which included three nights at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and three nights at Madison Square Garden in New York, and continued to support The Cure on their October–December 2016 European tour, which included three nights at London's Wembley Stadium as well as dates in Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris.

On 22 January 2018, the band announced via social media that drummer Mark Devine had amicably left the band.
The band's new touring drummer, Sebastien Schultz, joined shortly thereafter.

In June 2018, the band played their first shows for 18 months at the Primavera Sound festival.
Following this, on 16 June they played their first UK headlining show since 2015 at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, and appeared at The Cure's Hyde Park show on 7 July.
During these shows they premiered three new songs - "The Arbor", "VTr" and "Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting" - as well as playing a cover of Frightened Rabbit's "Keep Yourself Warm" in tribute to close friend Scott Hutchison, who had died in May; the song was to remain in their setlists with Graham stating "we have a duty and responsibility to keep Scott’s music and keep sharing it.
When we’re around touring, we need to tell people about him.”

In an interview with NME, posted on 9 July 2018, Andy MacFarlane stated that the band's fifth studio album is "finished", with a tentative release date of January 2019.
MacFarlane said, "It all came together really well.
To me, it's like a different band almost.
I did a stupid thing of writing loads of music, then giving it to James to write stuff over, then I deleted all the music.
So then I wrote another album under it... I think we just needed to shake up the routine.
One of our mates bought us those Brian Eno Oblique Strategy cards.
I picked one out and it was like 'delete everything, must try harder, don't tell James'.
The aim was to try and do stuff that we'd enjoy playing live, to make it more interesting for ourselves as well as everyone else."
In the same interview, James Graham discussed the album's lyrics and themes, describing them as "heavier": "It's all pretty full on but there's some lighter shades and some hope on there.
The first song that we're going to come back with epitomises the record.
It's got really noisy guitars but it's pretty melodic.
I think it's the next stage of who we're meant to be. ...
I won't say exactly what it's dealing with [lyrically] because a lot of it might be quite obvious, but I'm not hiding behind a lot of metaphors anymore.
I've done that, what's the point in trying to do it again?
I'm really proud of our lyrics in the past but this is just what came out.
I don't need to hide behind anything any more.
It's a bit of a leap to just go 'this is actually how I'm feeling.'
I think now is the time to just be more open and honest with people.
For myself it was important to say these things, but when it was done it was great to share it's okay to feel that way."

On 10 July 2018, the band announced that they had signed to Mogwai's label Rock Action Records and released their new single, stylised as "I/m Not Here [missing face]", for streaming and as a digital download.
The release coincided with an announcement of late 2018 tour dates in North America and Europe.
On 5 September, the band announced that their fifth studio album, titled and stylised as It Won/t Be Like This All the Time, would be released on 18 January 2019.
The first proper single, "Videograms", preceded the album on 26 October 2018.
A third song lifted from the album, "VTr", was made available for download and streaming on 13 November 2018.
The album was released to critical acclaim, including perfect scores from Drowned in Sound and The Skinny.

In November 2019 the
Prior to recording Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, the band was considering calling it quits until a major revitalisation occurred. In addition to the warm critical response the band received for their fourth album, The Twilight Sad was chosen by Robert Smith to be the supporting act for The Cure on their May/June 2016 North American tour, which included three nights at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and three nights at Madison Square Garden in New York, and continued to support The Cure on their October–December 2016 European tour, which included three nights at London's Wembley Stadium as well as dates in Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris.
On 22 January 2018, the band announced via social media that drummer Mark Devine had amicably left the band. The band's new touring drummer, Sebastien Schultz, joined shortly thereafter.
In June 2018, the band played their first shows for 18 months at the Primavera Sound festival. Following this, on 16 June they played their first UK headlining show since 2015 at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, and appeared at The Cure's Hyde Park show on 7 July. During these shows they premiered three new songs - "The Arbor", "VTr" and "Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting" - as well as playing a cover of Frightened Rabbit's "Keep Yourself Warm" in tribute to close friend Scott Hutchison, who had died in May; the song was to remain in their setlists with Graham stating "we have a duty and responsibility to keep Scott’s music and keep sharing it. When we’re around touring, we need to tell people about him.”
In an interview with NME, posted on 9 July 2018, Andy MacFarlane stated that the band's fifth studio album is "finished", with a tentative release date of January 2019. MacFarlane said, "It all came together really well. To me, it's like a different band almost. I did a stupid thing of writing loads of music, then giving it to James to write stuff over, then I deleted all the music. So then I wrote another album under it... I think we just needed to shake up the routine. One of our mates bought us those Brian Eno Oblique Strategy cards. I picked one out and it was like 'delete everything, must try harder, don't tell James'. The aim was to try and do stuff that we'd enjoy playing live, to make it more interesting for ourselves as well as everyone else." In the same interview, James Graham discussed the album's lyrics and themes, describing them as "heavier": "It's all pretty full on but there's some lighter shades and some hope on there. The first song that we're going to come back with epitomises the record. It's got really noisy guitars but it's pretty melodic. I think it's the next stage of who we're meant to be. ...I won't say exactly what it's dealing with [lyrically] because a lot of it might be quite obvious, but I'm not hiding behind a lot of metaphors anymore. I've done that, what's the point in trying to do it again? I'm really proud of our lyrics in the past but this is just what came out. I don't need to hide behind anything any more. It's a bit of a leap to just go 'this is actually how I'm feeling.' I think now is the time to just be more open and honest with people. For myself it was important to say these things, but when it was done it was great to share it's okay to feel that way."
On 10 July 2018, the band announced that they had signed to Mogwai's label Rock Action Records and released their new single, stylised as "I/m Not Here [missing face]", for streaming and as a digital download. The release coincided with an announcement of late 2018 tour dates in North America and Europe. On 5 September, the band announced that their fifth studio album, titled and stylised as It Won/t Be Like This All the Time, would be released on 18 January 2019. The first proper single, "Videograms", preceded the album on 26 October 2018. A third song lifted from the album, "VTr", was made available for download and streaming on 13 November 2018. The album was released to critical acclaim, including perfect scores from Drowned in Sound and The Skinny.
In November 2019 the
The Twilight Sad