Alfie Templeman Announces Sophomore Album With the Psychedelic "Radiosoul"
Photo: BLACKSOCKS
London-based artist and multi-instrumentalist Alfie Templeman celebrates the announcement of his sophomore album, Radiosoul, set to release June 7, with the release of the album's title track. The new single is a kaleidoscopic art piece written by Templeman while searching for a respite from social media and seeking a place where he could take refuge from the noise.
The dreamy effort opens with a collage of rich, funky bass lines, warm and summery guitar riffs, and soft percussion patterns, swaddling the listener in a cozy blankety of sound. In the chorus, his vocals soar, singing, "Cause I've been running the red lights / Like it's the beginning / And the radio stays on / While nobody listens," putting the internet's toxicity under a microscope while gliding in slow motion with phased guitars and a haze of psychedelia. Templemen's tantalizing falsetto takes center stage amid the lush production, urging the listener to listen to their soul.
"Radiosoul delves into the profound impact of social media," Templeman shares about the track. "People go to great lengths to conceal their imperfections, committing to this growing and burdening illusion. I think the song to me just helps to embrace the little imperfections of being human, I wanted it to build up like a big warm hug. It's okay to get away from your phone for a while and clear up that headache feeling. It's like a breath of fresh air."
The upcoming collection is a journey of self-discovery that zips between disco, funk, and psych-pop at a whim. It channels a newfound incisiveness and biting humor to Templeman's lyricism while retaining the sense of joy that defined his previous releases, especially his first album, Mellow Moon. As if delivered from a time machine stuck skipping through decades at warp speed, Radiosoul is an acid-trip pop record both vintage and ultramodern in sound. From the ambitious, audacious title track, whose laid-back groove evolves into a full-blown jam, complete with spiraling saxophone, the new music showcases Templeman's confident new stride as he enters his technicolor sophomore era.
Watch the Radiosoul lyric video below:
