{"id":10089,"date":"2025-08-18T12:42:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xtrawire.com.ng\/?p=10089"},"modified":"2025-08-18T12:42:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:42:44","slug":"blud-sweat-and-tears-yungblud-goes-all-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/?p=10089","title":{"rendered":"Blud, sweat and tears: Yungblud goes all in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Started Yungblud when I was 18. Of course, I never expected it to get this big,\u201d grins Dominic Harrison backstage at his very own festival, Bludfest. \u201cWe started this thing because me and my mates were pissed off and we\u2019ve just run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debut album \u201821st Century Liability\u2019 was released in 2018 and saw Yungblud ranting and raging at the world over a furious mix of pop-punk, ska and indie-rock. 2020\u2019s \u2018Weird!\u2019 was even more eclectic but ended up topping the UK album chart, while crossover collabs with Machine Gun Kelly (\u2018I Think I\u2019m Okay) and Halsey (\u201811 Minutes\u2019) properly thrust Dom into the spotlight. He found the attention uncomfortable as questions about his sexuality and how authentic the whole thing was followed from all sides. \u201cPeople just didn\u2019t get me. I was constantly getting asked things I hadn\u2019t even asked myself. It made me get insecure, and I started questioning who I was,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Blud,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The original plan was to follow \u2018Weird!\u2019 up with an album of tracks inspired by the classic rock bands he\u2019d grown up on, but the label wanted more gobby, brash punk-pop anthems. \u201cIt was a hard time for me. I felt so tired. I was drinking a lot. I had a very weird relationship with food. I didn\u2019t feel like I was in control, and I didn\u2019t want to be either.\u201d It\u2019s why he brought in \u201ctoo many opinions\u201d on what he should do next. The end result was 2022\u2019s self-titled album, which, according to Dom, saw him going against his own instincts. \u201cWho is Yungblud? I don\u2019t know, you fucking tell me,\u201d he told us at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are five songs on that album that I really love, but it wasn\u2019t a fully fleshed out idea,\u201d he explains today, describing the record as an accidental art project. \u201cIt felt real as fuck to me at the time, but in hindsight, I can see that I was desperately trying to be what people wanted. I ended up becoming a caricature.\u201d The day the album dropped, he realised he\u2019d repeated himself. \u201cI don\u2019t regret it,\u201d he adds. \u201cI needed that kick in the ass to get here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally, those life lessons come after a flop, but \u2018Yungblud\u2019 was another commercial hit. As well as topping the UK album charts once more, the record saw Dom head out on an ambitious arena tour that included a stop at the iconic Wembley Arena. It was proof that people were fine with more of the same from Yungblud, but new album \u2018Idols\u2019 sees Dom dramatically changing things up. \u201cI had to do something different, or I would have just stopped,\u201d he admits. \u201cI can\u2019t do the thing where you pretend to be something you\u2019re not. I\u2019m not built like that. I\u2019m not a liar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Blud,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken a lot of work, but I\u2019ve just got to a point where I truly know who I am\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Trading in gobby songs of rebellion for sleek, stadium-sized anthems that nod to Oasis, David Bowie and Queen, \u2018Idols\u2019 does away with the expectations of others. \u201cAll that really matters is unfiltered emotion, because that\u2019s what makes people fall in love with music,\u201d he says, namechecking The Verve\u2019s \u2018Urban Hymns\u2019, \u2018The Dark Side Of The Moon\u2019 by Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys\u2019 \u2018Pet Sounds\u2019. \u2018Idols\u2019 is exactly the type of album you\u2019d expect from someone who practically grew up in their family\u2019s guitar shop. \u201cIt\u2019s taken a lot of work, but I\u2019ve just got to a point where I truly know who I am.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Idols\u2019 is a double album \u2013 the first part launched in June, with the second half either coming at the end of 2025 or the start of 2026, depending on when Yungblud\u2019s new EP with \u201cone of the greatest rock bands of all time\u201d is launched. The collab \u201cfell out of the sky\u201d and is all recorded and ready to go. There\u2019s also talk of Dom entering the studio with some more of his heroes before the UK leg of the \u2018Idols\u2019 world tour, \u201cbecause why the fuck not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanging out with idols like Ozzy Osbourne and Mick Jagger has affirmed that \u201chate is inevitable,\u201d Dom explains. It can make some artists bitter, but for Yungblud, it\u2019s used as fuel to \u201cfight for what you believe in\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=Yv97b2oPk3w%3Ffeature%3Doembed\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cI\u2019m sick of adhering to industry rules and listening to music that just feels vapid\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy fan base is always hungry for more music,\u201d he continues. \u201cThey want an emotional journey. They want a world to believe in.\u201d It\u2019s why \u2018Idols\u2019 is a double album. \u201cIt feels like music is about dopamine at the moment, but I wanted to create something that had depth. Fuck a 15-second TikTok hook; here\u2019s a nine-minute song,\u201d he grins, having launched this new era with the epic \u2018Hello Heaven, Hello\u2019 which clocks in just shy of ten minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sick of adhering to industry rules and listening to music that just feels vapid. I\u2019m going to do what I want. Anytime I try and prove myself to somebody else, I compromise. Anytime I compromise the fans, who are the people who are most important to me, don\u2019t fuck with it. You can get so bogged down in appeasing the one person in the crowd who thinks you\u2019re a twat, that you forget about the 35,000 people out there who know every word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written over a protracted four-year period, \u2018Idols\u2019 was less about chasing a vision and more about letting the music go where it felt most vibrant. \u201cThe most beautiful tool we had was hindsight,\u201d says Dom. If, after a few weeks, a song felt boring or predictable, it didn\u2019t make the cut. \u201cIt was a real passion project,\u201d he explains, comparing it to Bowie\u2019s Hunky Dory. \u201cIs it the most instant album I\u2019ve ever done? No. But I think it will be one that will mean the most to my community in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Blud,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about taking that pedestal away from your heroes and saying, \u2018My turn now\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Idols\u2019, as the name suggests, is all about idol worship. \u201cI wanted to explore why we put people on pedestals and give them credit for our life, or tear them down and take our bullshit out on them,\u201d says Dom, who grew up looking at photos of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie on his bedroom wall. \u201cI realised everything I got from admiring them came from within me,\u201d he adds, very aware that he is that picture on the wall for a new generation. \u201cIt\u2019s an album of self-reclamation. It\u2019s about taking that pedestal away from your heroes and saying, \u2018My turn now\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yungblud has been deliberately vague about the specific inspiration behind each track, wanting each song to have \u201ca million meanings to a million different people\u201d. However, \u201crevealing\u201d new documentary-slash-live-album \u2018Are You Ready, Boy?\u2019 sees famed director Paul Dugdale (\u2018An Evening With Dua Lipa\u2019, \u2018One Direction: Where We Are\u2019) follow him at Berlin\u2019s iconic Hansa Studios as he performs \u2018Idols\u2019 for the very first time and gets raw about the biggest change in his life. \u201cI hope it gives people a better idea of just what went into this record,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The release ends with the piano-driven pomp of \u2018Supermoon\u2019 with the lyric \u201cDon\u2019t be sad\u201d closing out a record that started with a reintroduction. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that I have got everything I ever wanted, so stop thinking about bullshit that doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d says Dom. That happy ending doesn\u2019t continue on the second half of the double album though. \u201cPart one is learning to fly again; part two is the plummet back down to earth. There\u2019s a lot about heartbreak, death, talk about who I want in my life and about being present in the moment. Honestly, making this album has been a mad ride,\u201d he grins. It\u2019s one you can hear across the entire record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve written about things like gun violence and trans rights on my other records, but \u2018Idols\u2019 was about shutting my eyes and thinking about mortality, change, love and hate. It was me asking, \u2018Why?\u2019\u201d explains Dom. Before the album was released, people were questioning the lack of politics in this new era, but during his Bludfest set, Dom paused the show to share an advert for War Child and encouraged the 35,000 people watching to donate. \u201cThe world at the minute is in fucking turmoil,\u201d he explained onstage. \u201cChildren are dying in Gaza, the Ukraine and Sudan. We have to talk to the fucking old men who are holding the world back with their greed. We have to speak up, and we have to protect the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Started Yungblud when I was 18. Of course, I never expected it to get this big,\u201d grins Dominic Harrison backstage…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new","category-golf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportplug.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}