Jack Garratt is back with his first new music in four years.
The 28-year-old singer/songwriter – who has won countless awards, including the Breakthrough Act Q Award and the BRITs Critics’ Choice award in 2016 – has released his new single, ‘Time’, taken from his upcoming second studio album, ‘Love, Death & Dancing’, which follows his acclaimed 2016 debut LP, ‘Phase’.
And he’s also shared the tracks ‘Mara’ and ‘Return Them To The One’ as part of ‘Vol 1’ of the upcoming release.
The album is deeply personal and comes after an extremely difficult period for the musician, who experienced suicidal thoughts and battled with his mental health during a trip to New York.
Jack has admitted that despite winning several accolades and having so much success with ‘Phase’, he realised he actually felt "scared and alone" at the time.
He said: "I was in what should have been this huge celebratory moment, I’m 24, 25, my album has not only sold but sold well, globally, the tours were selling out, I was getting all these accolades and awards – I should have felt comfortable, at the very least.
"And instead I was scared and alone, and desperate for affection. I’d realised that a lot of the pillars of affection were hollow; they weren’t real."
Detailing his dark thoughts during his vacation, he recalled: "Somehow, in the middle of all this joy – we went to the theatre, to Saturday Night Live, it was lovely, all these things I’d wanted to do, with the woman I love – this overwhelming thought came into my head. It was the first time I’d ever truly contemplated suicide. I was so taken with this moment, within the joy that I was feeling; that still, despite that, this arrow was able to find a way through it all and hit me, directly, square between the eyes. I just broke down. No love for myself existed in that moment. It was just all self-loathing."
The ‘Worry’ singer has also created a long-form visual piece to accompany the album’s release and has penned the tracks "from the point of view of someone who has a functioning sadness".
He explained: "The album was written from the point of view of someone who has a functioning sadness, who has had his day-to-day depressions and anxieties that have influenced the decisions he’s made.
"The album is about that functionality, that day-to-day battle, conversation, tug of war.
"We’re making a film at the moment, to go with the whole album.
"The premise of it is that it’s me in the back rooms of my mental health, on my own, interpreting the album.
"The one thing it needs to do is for the very last shot to be exactly the same as the opening shot.
"Because this battle in my head is cyclical, infinite; it’s a line of consistency, a time loop that’s just going round and round and round."
He also admitted that: "I think this is the first time I’ve felt proud of the songs I’ve made."
Jack is also set to embark on the ‘Work In Progress Tour’, which includes two nights at London’s EartH on March 9 and March 10.
‘Love, Death & Dancing’ is released in full on May 29 via Island Records.
Jack Garratt returns with first new music in four years
