Yungblud says he's 'calmer than ever' after confronting his demons
EXCLUSIVE: The singer, 27, is coming out fighting with his new music - and he's not shying away from the hard topics to climb the charts either
Yungblud is coming out fighting with his new music. He's confronted his demons, taken up boxing and is battling against toxic masculinity. And what he delivers with album Idols really packs a punch.
'I really had to face myself… figure it out and face it,' he tells. And Yungblud, 27, reckons he has really grown in the process. 'I would use food and alcohol to distract myself and push things down,' he says.
'The album is a mirror to that. I have singing lessons. I don't drink as much and I've been getting better at sleeping. I've been getting better at being able to navigate this whole thing better – that's been epic.'
Idols is Yungblud's fourth studio release, the first coming out in 2018. He filmed the music video for single Hello Heaven shirtless during a -14C blizzard in Bulgaria – and is enjoying flashing the flesh.
Having previously opened up about his battle with body dysmorphia, the Doncaster rocker – real name Dominic Harrison – tells how he has now 'cut out people that were not good' for him, and that posing topless for his album promo is a 'kickback against those people'.
Yungblud is not shying away from hard topics to climb the charts either. He says: 'Me and my friends were talking about sexuality. It was what young people were talking about but it wasn't being represented in music at all. It was kind of like, 'Oh, don't sing about that. It's too political to go on Radio One.'
'I was like, 'This is what people want to hear, this is what I want to say, this is what I want to sing about'.' After his last album, Yungblud opened up about the fear of being predictable – but that is one thing you can't accuse him of with this record.
'People knew exactly what I would sing, wear and say,' he says. 'I was repeating myself and I was starting to not tell the truth.
'The past two years has been a real reset for me to provide a new outlet and a new journey. I feel calmer than I've ever felt because it's truly written. If it's not real, people can smell it'.
Describing the creative process, he said: 'It's like crying or having an orgasm… it just comes out of you without f***ing responsibility or consequence'. And Yungblud, who recently took up boxing with a trainer in LA, wants to be a positive role model for other men.
Previously addressing the issue on Jamie Laing's podcast Great Company, and referencing hit Netflix series Adolescence, he says: 'What I see are these psychos like Andrew Tate and this toxically poisonous stuff that young men are consuming.
'I really feel like there needs to be people who embrace masculinity and embrace this element of physical activity, but also do it like me – from a place of law, respect and equality.
'I want to portray that it's cool to embrace masculinity in a new way that highlights emotions but respects that there isn't just this kind of old school idea that's being peddled.'
Idols is out on June 20 and Yungblud's world tour starts in LA on August 23. Bludfest in Milton Keynes on June 21 is his only UK date this year.
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