Recommended tracks: “Zombie,” “Ghosts,” “War”
Artists you might like: mgk, Halsey, Panic! At the Disco
“After my last album came out, I remember sitting in a hotel room in New York and feeling like I was starting to repeat myself. I felt like I was falling into my own cliché. To be honest, I felt like I was becoming comfortable. And that’s a really beautiful thing in some ways, because it meant I had a style and a standpoint. But I always told myself that if people know where I’m going next, then that’s my idea of failure. Rebirth and reinvention are my favorite things about being an artist. Building a world and an adventure that didn’t exist yesterday is the coolest thing in the world to me. And as I sat in that New York hotel room, I asked myself, ‘How the hell am I going to be YUNGBLUD forever?'”
YUNGBLUD has never been one to stay quiet, and with Idols, he’s louder, unfiltered, and more honest than ever. The record captures the weight of expectations and a desperate need to be heard. Idols was born right after Weird! reached No. 1 on the charts, but was put on pause when he faced discouragement from the outside world, and his own self-doubt crept in.
With a renewed confidence, YUNGBLUD is making music on his own terms with a clearer vision than ever before. “We all look for inspiration and answers. But the real f*cking answers to the questions we’re all asking—they lie within us. You’ve got to be yourself—or you’re no one,” he says.
The “Parents” singer has built a reputation on theatrics colliding with chaos, but he reveals his most authentic self with this record starting with “Hello Heaven, Hello.” The song was the first single to be released and sits at just over nine minutes in length; it blends classic rock and pop music into one. The lyrics speak on breaking free from the expectations society puts on us and serve as a goodbye to the past, while also reflecting on where he’s at right now. On it, he sings, “Do you still remember, or have you forgotten where you’re from? / Are you still scared of dyin’? / Scared of them finding out that you don’t know who you are? / And I don’t know whats in my head / But I know what’s in my chest.”
“Lovesick Lullaby” is the second single to be released off the record and features YUNGBLUD’s signature sound. It marks his return to explosive, loud, chaotic pop punk.
A recurring theme throughout the record is standing firm in your identity and owning who you are regardless of what others may think. YUNGBLUD opens up on “Zombie” and conveys the emotional exhaustion that comes from holding onto your identity in a world that feels disconnected. The lyrics open the door for an honest conversation about inner turmoil. The singer is inviting listeners to confront their own feelings and insecurities: “If I was to talk about the words / They would hurt, they would hurt / So if you were to ask about the pain / I would lie, I would lie.” YUNGBLUD has been very vocal about this album serving as a love letter to rock music and his fans, but the music video for “Zombie” takes on an entirely different meaning. It highlights nurses worldwide, who work tirelessly to save lives, and in the process, they silently sacrifice their own mental health.
“Change” uses fun, punchy guitar riffs to convey the frustrations that come from craving reinvention when progress is at a standstill. The lyrics “Are you ready boy?” are frequently repeated throughout the song and serve as a wake up call to step up to the plate and face the truth. “Ghosts” opens with a soft keyboard melody and slowly layers in a drum beat to mirror a phoenix rising from the ashes. The lyrics explore resilience in the face of adversity: “Remember sticks and stones / And how they broke your bones / Pain is how you learn / And boy you learned a lot / When they hit you in the face / And you begged them all to stop / Until you rose up again.”
The fear of rejection can be so loud, and at some point everyone has probably wrestled with the fear of not fitting in, but YUNGBLUD gives us comfort in times of feeling like a fraud on “War.” The song reminds us that we are never alone in our feelings and there is someone out there who has experienced the same thing as you and made it through: “Everybody loves the way you are / But you don’t let them look inside you do you?”
For the opportunity to hear the album live, fans can purchase tickets to IDOLS The World Tour this fall, beginning in Los Angeles on August 23rd.
