Young Fathers have spoken to NME about the huge response to their fourth album ‘Heavy Heavy’, and revealed that they are already in the process of making new music. Watch our interview above.
The trio – comprised of Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham Hastings – spoke to NME on the red carpet of the 2024 BRIT Awards on Saturday night (March 2). They were nominated for Best British Group, Best Rock/Alternative Act and Best British Album – the latter being for the album ‘Heavy Heavy’.
During the interview, the band were asked about the massive response to the album, which was released in February 2023 and saw them shortlisted for the Mercury Prize Award.
“I think when you make something that’s great and people resonate with it, all these things sort of snowball,” said Massaquoi. “I think it’s all been positive, so it’s great. We’ll just ride the wave, then get back in the studio and do it all again.”
When asked if the band had begun working on more material, Massaquoi revealed that they have already written new songs, and been recording them in between their recent tour dates.
“We’ve been in and out [of the studio] when we were touring,” he explained. “We had a few sessions, just touching base again to see what we can do. It’s just a process… bit by bit.”
Later in the interview on the BRITs red carpet, the Scottish trio revealed that their sources of inspiration have predominantly been from outside the music sphere.
“I’ve been watching a lot of films and TV series, stuff like that,” Massaquoi responded when asked about what has resonated with him recently.
“I was watching Your Honour with Bryan Cranston – that was great. I watched Jonathan Glazier’s new film Zones Of Interest, [and] I saw another film called Girl by a friend of mine — check it out! A bunch of other stuff too. I’ve been busy doing that.”
In other Young Fathers news, the band have been added to the line-up for the 2024 edition of the Teenage Cancer Trust gig series in London, alongside Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and The Chemical Brothers. They will also be performing at this year’s BBC 6 Music Festival, which also sees appearances by The Smile and Gossip. Find tickets to their upcoming shows here.
Back in December, Young Fathers teamed up with Fontaines D.C., and Massive Attack for a limited edition 12” single to support the charity Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF). 100 per cent of the profits were donated to the charity to help their emergency operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
The trio’s album ‘Heavy Heavy’ was given a five-star review by NME, who described it as “boundary breaking”.
“The numerous styles that fill their sonic smorgasbord – soul, pop, rock, hip-hop, noise – fit together neatly here like the pieces of a puzzle; the band never once sounding disjointed when one sound gives way to the next, often within the same track,” it read.
“In a similar vein to their previous material, the listener is quickly swept along on the Mercury Prize-winning band’s latest dark and dense pop journey that achieves what many artists ultimately aspire to: creating and then honing a sound entirely of their own making.”
The post Young Fathers on what’s next: “We’ll just ride the wave, then get back in the studio and do it all again” appeared first on NME.
