By Camilla Whitfield
Contemporary rock band Black Honey captioned one of their most recent Instagram posts with: “If the whole world was a stage it would be so easy to always be your authentic self.”
A poignant thought. However, growing artist YUNGBLUD (aka Dominic Harrison) hasn’t ever shied away from exposing his true self. He’s back on our airwaves with track ‘Original Me’ from his upcoming E.P The Underrated Youth. It is our third taste from his new collection of material after his debut album last year 21st Century Liability. It’s also a significant release as it’s the first piece Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons has collaborated with Harrison on. It’s a loud, anthemic track which confronts the less savoury parts of ourselves that we normally keep hidden. It deals maturely with these issues, opening wounds of self-pity and insecurity, yet giving them an almost celebratory nature.
Harrison has previously said in a statement, “this song is about accepting the parts of yourself that you hate and realising your biggest superpower is to be originally, authentically yourself”.
“Working with Dan Reynolds was such a dream come true as he is a huge inspiration for me. The song came out of the studio within a day. The mutual raw energy between us made this song what it is.”
The music video can be found here.
The fantastical fusion between these two artists has resulted in a track which attempts to push through any self-doubt the listener may be feeling, making it clear that in their eyes it is better to be an “original loser” than to waste your time pretending to be someone else. Harrison’s witty lyricism always rings true, and with Reynold added to the mix it adds an even heavier-hitting element. Furthermore, the amalgamation of vocals with the backdrop of heavy beats almost acts as a mirror to the subconscious thought – or voices we may hear in our heads. It’s both a universal and individual portrayal of the subject and is an effective offering to the realm of modern rock.
Moreover, the music video certainly deserves a special mention. Directed by Twenty One Pilots and Christine and the Queen’s alumni, Jordan Bahat is almost a horror scape filled with chaos. The backdrop is a dusty scrap yard, where the duo finds cars being dropped above them repeatedly. Battered and bruised by one of the largest symbols of modernity, further highlighted by the flying cars at the end, it’s a strange but mesmerising watch. If the disorder in the video wasn’t enough, the premier in the middle of the New York underlined it, with Harrison crowd surfing as his fans look on. We’ve come to expect nothing less from one of the biggest names in rock and roll today.
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Stream the tracks below to tide you over until YUNGBLUD’s new music drops. His newest EP The Underrated Youth will be released on the 18th of October. Make sure to add this date to your diary, as you’ll want to witness the carnage to come.
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