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”.
NEWS
Celebrated playwright and comedian Ben Elton has approached Noel Gallagher about creating an “Oasis jukebox musical”.
The two recently crossed paths at the Queen Budapest premiere at London’s BFI Imax. During their conversation, the We Will Rock You writer expressed his interest in building a stage production around Oasis’ songs.
The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column reported that the guitarist laughed and pointed him towards his brother Liam, saying: “You better ask our kid.”
Someone close to Liam suggested casting the singer would be a challenge, claiming no actor could "match" his "swagger".
Built around Queen’s songs, We Will Rock You enjoyed an impressive run, becoming the Dominion Theatre’s longest running musical and earning a place among the West End’s longest running productions. It also received the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Popular Show.
Interest in Oasis remains enormous, with 11 million people signing up for the Oasis Live ’27 ticket ballot.
After the Live Forever band returned to touring last year for the first time in 16 years, their famous rivalry with Blur became the subject of a stage comedy.
In The Battle, Gavin and Stacey actor Mathew Horne portrayed Andy Ross, the Britpop music executive who found himself in the middle of one of British music’s most memorable feuds.
He said: “This play is right in the sweet spot of my teenage cultural experience. I’m thrilled to be exploring this iconic era in music on stage with such a talented creative team involved.”
The production revisited August 1995, when Blur and Oasis went head to head by releasing Country House and Roll With It on the same day, each hoping to reach Number One.
Blur secured the victory with sales of 274,000 copies, compared with 216,000 for Oasis.
That chart contest fuelled years of public jabs between members of both groups, although relations have become less hostile over time.
A UK tour had been planned for the production, but its remaining performances were cancelled following the Birmingham and Manchester engagements in February and March this year.
Oasis Live ’27 begins on May 21 at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, with 42 concerts scheduled, including a record six performances at Knebworth.
