YUNGBLUD’s new album encapsulates the “invincible” feeling he gets when he listens to the likes of Oasis, The Verve, David Bowie and Amy Winehouse.
The ‘Fleabag’ rocker has teased what fans can expect from his follow-up to his 2022 self-titled LP, which marks a new chapter and sees him move away from “darkness” and into the light.
He explained in an interview with NME: “It’s been made in England. It’s been made in the North, and I flip the narrative where I’ve sung about darkness. This album is the light. It’s all about getting through it; it’s positive. It’s that thing in your stomach when you listen to Oasis, or The Verve, or Bowie, or Suede, or Madonna. It makes me feel like I can get up today. It makes me feel like I’m invincible and that I can do anything – that’s what this new album sounds like.
“Stone Roses, Amy Winehouse – everything that has fundamentally done work on my soul. Everything up to now has been about your heart and your head and making sure that I’m educated, that I use my voice. That I speak from the heart, meet people, be loud, be bratty, be unapologetic, be crazy. This is [me asking] ‘What does my soul want to say? What do I feel in my fingertips when you stick on [Oasis’] ‘Live Forever’, [The Verve’s] ‘Valium Skies’ or [Primal Scream‘s] ‘Screamadelica’?
“It’ll be a great ‘Urban Hymns’ or ’Screamadelica’. I know the old dudes are going to leather me in the comments for that but I don’t give a f*** because I’m going to go there. If you listen to it, then it’s that from a new perspective.”
The musician locked himself away in a studio and “shut the world out” so he could just “feel” without any outside influences.
Comparing the record to famous concept albums, he said: “It’s a ’Tommy’, it’s a ‘Quadrophenia’ [The Who]. It’s ‘A Night At The Opera’ [Queen]. It’s a ‘Black Parade’ [My Chemical Romance]. It’s an ‘Urban Hymns’. It’s a thing that’s intended to be listened to from start to finish, and it’s pushed me harder and made me gut myself harder than anything before.
“We locked ourselves in a studio in Leeds and just felt. We shut the world out instead of asking, ‘What’s popping on this?’ ‘What’s the state of art’ or whatever. F*** that. Could this album have been written 50 years ago? Could this album be written in 50 years’ time? It just is.”
The ‘Funeral’ singer was speaking to promote his upcoming alternative music festival, BLUDFEST, which takes place at Milton Keynes Bowl on August 11.
The all-dayer will feature performances from Atlanta rapper and YUNGBLUD’s collaborator Lil Yachty, rock duo SOFT PLAY, rising star Nessa Barrett, pop star Lola Young and alt-pop star Jazmin Bean.
Punk rock legends The Damned have been chosen to play the icon slot, like Glastonbury’s Sunday afternoon legends slot.
Tickets will go on sale at 10am on March 22 and will be priced at £49.50 plus fees. Head to bludfest.com for all the information.