in a september 2012 press release, bruce watson announced that butler had retired from the group at the end of their last tour. he was replaced by former simple minds bassist derek forbes, who was adamson's original choice for bassist on the initial big country recordings, although forbes was not asked due to shyness on adamson's part. the group also parted ways with longtime manager ian grant at the same time as butler's departure. with the involvement of forbes, later in 2012 and into 2013, the group recorded a new album in the welsh town of wrexham. the new material featured lyrics composed by peters over band-written music; butler still held writing credits on most of the album, with forbes having contributed on a number of tracks as well, although he played all the album's bass parts. titled "the journey", the album was released through cherry red records in 2013, becoming the group's first studio record since 1999. further performances followed throughout the year, including a month-long north american tour between july and august.