New York, NY (Top40 Charts) With his sophomore album Radiosoul dawning on the horizon, 21-year-old UK artist Alfie Templeman has released his new single "
Beckham" today. His latest preview of the forthcoming LP - which releases June 7th, 2024 via Chess Club Records / AWAL - "
Beckham" is a collaboration with sought-after producer Dan Carey (Wet Leg, Fontaines D.C.). An acid-dipped indie-pop cut, the track centers around a formative moment in adolescence: taking the leap of faith and relocating to a big city.
"The chorus of Beckham is the list of places I was looking to move houses to in London," says Templeman. "I moved for the first time in my life during summer of '23, which was really exciting. But the days counting down to moving out truly felt like the realest and most dignifying moments of my life. Like a whole new chapter had started, albeit one brimming with everyday anxiety - that existential dread building in you making the present ever so blurry. It's one of a few songs on Radiosoul where I try to face it and find clarity, and was partially inspired by
Beatles songs like "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "
Tomorrow Never Knows" where everything is a bit twisted. It's a nice way of painting with words."
While it could be at home sonically in both the past and the future, Radiosoul is a coming-of-age album for the present day; one that sees Alfie catapulting out of his comfort zone. Sonically, as he experiments with funk & disco and brings collaborators into his world for the first time — and literally, as he leaves the small farm town he's lived in his entire life and navigates the experience of young adulthood in London. It's an album of self-discovery; one that zips between genres at whim and channels a newfound incisiveness and acerbic humor to Templeman's lyricism, while retaining the sense of joy that defined his previous releases.
Continuing to peel back the curtain on Radiosoul's colorfully psychedelic world, "
Beckham" joins Alfie's trio of previously-released singles from the project: the disco-tinted "Hello Lonely," '80's funk groove "
Eyes Wide Shut" and eponymous title track "Radiosoul." While it could be at home in both the past and the future, Radiosoul is a coming-of-age album for the present day; one that sees Alfie catapulting out of his comfort zone. Sonically, as he experiments within new genres and brings collaborators into his world for the first time — and literally, as he leaves the small farm town he's lived in his entire life and navigates the experience of young adulthood in London. It's an album of self-discovery; one that teleports from disco to indie rock at a moments-notice and channels a freshly acerbic humor within his lyricism.
A self-taught musical polymath who's conquered nearly a dozen instruments himself, Templeman joined forces with a gifted cast of collaborators to make Radiosoul, which features tracks with guitar-maestro Nile Rodgers (Chic) and coveted producers like the aforementioned Dan Carey, as well as Oscar Scheller (Arlo Parks, Charli XCX), Charlie J Perry (Jorja Smith, BTS), Karma Kid, Will Bloomfield, Justin Young and Josh Scarbrow. Recorded over 5 months predominantly in South London, the project melts with red-hot guitar riffs, unabashedly maximalist production, and psych-pop elements as vibrant as tie-dye. Classic Pop has already awarded the record 4.5 / 5 stars, saying "[it's] a stratospheric leap above his peers for album two…Templeman emerges as a major talent."
Retaining the effortless, sunshine-drenched feel of his first record Mellow Moon - which won praise for its breezy creativity - Radiosoul pushes his songcraft further in every direction. So far, the album's debut singles have garnered buzz for several months straight: scoring BBC
Radio 1's Hottest Record In The World, dozens of Spotify New
Music Friday and Apple New
Music Daily playlists and globe-spanning attention from Rolling Stone, Billboard, FLOOD Magazine, Consequence, Northern Transmissions, Ones To Watch, NME, Clash, The Line of Best Fit, Euphoria Magazine and more.
