NEWS
Yungblud and Florence Pugh served pints to fans in a central London pub to celebrate his new single, ‘Zombie’.
Released yesterday (May 30), the anthemic and emotional rock track is the latest preview of ‘Idols’ – part one of the Doncaster artist’s – real name Dominic Harrison – double fourth album, which is released on June 20 (pre-order/pre-save here).
Pugh (We Live in Time, Oppenheimer) stars in the powerful official music video for ‘Zombie’, playing a healthcare worker at her emotional brink, overwhelmed by grief and exhaustion.
To celebrate the collaboration, the duo surprised punters at The Devonshire in Piccadilly, central London last night (May 30) by putting in a shift behind the bar to pour pints of Guinness.
It’s not Harrison’s first time as a bartender – recent he showed up at his favourite London pub, The Hawley Arms in Camden Town, where he pulled pints for fans to mark the release of ‘Lovesick Lullaby’.
Check out the footage from last night below.
Yungblud debuted the song at an intimate gig at London’s Scala in March. He later said the ballad was about “feeling you’re ugly, and learning to battle that”, while detailing his experiences with eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
“The song was written initially about my grandmother going through serious injury and trauma, leading her to become a different person to who she was before,” Yungblud explained in a new statement.
“It’s about the feeling of deterioration and ugliness; shutting out the world and the people we love out of the fear of becoming a burden or an embarrassment.”
He added: “We all want someone or something to comfort us, no matter how we are right now or who we become in the future. But it’s fucking scary.”
The soaring, poignant single features a performance from the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
‘Zombie’ follows on from Yungblud’s previous singles ‘Hello Heaven, Hello’ and ‘Lovesick Lullaby’. ‘Idols’, described as his “most ambitious” release yet, follows the musician’s 2022 self-titled third album.
Last December, Yungblud exclusively revealed to NME that he had a “double album” on the way. “The new album centres around the idea of self-love and self-reclamation that allows people to feel seen, and emit this light,” he told us at the time.
“You can be seen for who you truly are, no matter where you’re from or what you believe… That’s what I needed to write an album about.”
During an earlier interview, he told NME that he had been inspired by the likes of Oasis, The Verve, Primal Scream, My Chemical Romance, David Bowie and Madonna on the Britpop-influenced LP.
Meanwhile, Yungblud has announced a brief run of intimate UK shows, dubbed ‘Idols – Up Close And Personal’. The dates follow the second edition of Yungblud’s BludFest in Milton Keynes on June 21, and come ahead of his ‘Idols’ headline tour in North America and Europe.
In other news, Yungblud, has criticised the current cost of festival tickets, saying he “100 per cent” agrees that prices have “got out of hand”. Harrison spoke about his vow to make BludFest 2 affordable for fans (£65), “because that’s the way it should be”.
“In this world, there is nothing you can’t achieve if you are doing it from a place of truth, and for the right reason,” Harrison said, having previously declared that “music should be accessible to everyone”.
Perry Farrell has released another public apology following an on-stage confrontation involving his bandmate Dave Navarro.
The Jane's Addiction frontman was involved in a physical altercation with guitarist Dave Navarro last year during a live performance, an incident that prompted the band to cancel their reunion tour and eventually led to their split.
“I'd like to address what happened on stage last year,” Perry, 66, said in a statement shared across both his personal Instagram account and Jane's Addiction’s official page. “I've reflected on it and know I didn't handle myself the way I should have. I apologize to our patrons and my bandmates for losing my temper and for disrupting the show.”
He went on to admit that he did not meet fan expectations and described himself as deeply remorseful toward everyone impacted by the incident.
“Jane's Addiction has been at the center of my life for decades. The band, the songs, the patrons, and the impact that we've had on music and culture mean more to me than any words I could ever possibly write down,” he shared.
“My aim has always been to give our audience the best possible show, something real, honest and positive. In Boston, we fell short of that, and I'm truly sorry to everyone who was impacted.”
Jane's Addiction also issued its own statement regarding the altercation, which ultimately led to the group’s remaining members filing a lawsuit against Perry alleging assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract.
“Today we are here to announce that we have come together one last time to resolve our differences, so that the legacy of Jane's Addiction will remain the work the four of us created together,” the band wrote, signaling that the group would not move forward with Perry. “We now look forward to the future as we embark on our separate musical and creative endeavors.”
