London-based artist & multi-instrumentalist Alfie Templeman has officially announced his eagerly-awaited sophomore album Radiosoul – arriving June 7th, 2024 and has shared the vibrant title track today.
The title track, “Radiosoul,” is a kaleidoscopic five-minute sweep that leads the album off while capturing the escapist feeling that underpins the whole project. Written by Templeman while he was searching for a respite from social media & seeking a place where he could take refuge from the noise, it’s a song that puts internet toxicity under a microscope while gliding in slow motion with phased guitars and a haze of psychedelia.
An ambitious suite of eleven tracks that showcase a bold new psychedelic direction for the UK-born polymath, Radiosoul features production from Templeman as well as collaborations with guitar-maestro Nile Rodgers (Chic) and sought-after producers Dan Carey (Wet Leg, Fontaines D.C.), Oscar Scheller (Arlo Parks, Charli XCX), Charlie J Perry (Jorja Smith, BTS), Karma Kid, Will Bloomfield, Justin Young and Josh Scarbrow.
It’s an album of self-discovery; one that zips between disco, funk and psych-pop 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. As if delivered from a time machine stuck skipping through decades in warp speed, Radiosoul is an acid-trip pop record both vintage and ultramodern in sound.
“In February 2023, I planned a small trip to the USA and fell back in love with recording music,” says Templeman about the genesis of the record. “I visited Nile Rodgers in Miami and Oscar Scheller in LA, then came back and hung out with a bunch of amazing producers in South London: Charlie Perry, Karma Kid, Dan Carey, Will Bloomfield and Josh Scarbrow. During the next 5 months we’d make my next album together. I’d go home and craft songs; taking from ideas I had dating all the way back to 2017. Then we’d meet up and make things spontaneously. There’s an exciting energy that gets captured when you don’t know what’s coming next. Every song is intentionally different from the last. It’s about the weird and the wonderful, the big, bright, bursting moments and the quiet, raw, reflective moments. Back when I started out, what really excited me was using music as a way of documenting my life. Each EP felt like a little diary entry, taking the last half a year of my life condensed into a few songs. This album really reminds me of that, but this time it looks back at my whole life. I finally feel a little more confident about fighting the darkness that will inevitably lurk around from time to time. This album is about turning 20: entering a new decade of your life and figuring out how you guided yourself to where you are now even if you don’t really know how”
Going deeper on the track, Templeman adds, “Radiosoul delves into the profound impact of social media. 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.”
Are vibing with Alfie Templeman’s new single “Radiosoul”? Looking forward to the new album?
