"I really felt like I didn’t want to rap, whereas before, rap was the only way I could express myself with the tools I had. Now that I have more freedom to create and do more, why wouldn’t we change it up?”
slowthai has today revelaed that his third studio album UGLY will release on the 3rd of March.
Alongside the news he has released his brand new single Selfish. The track is a deeply personal cut over a punk inspired instrumental, as slowthai wrestles with conflicted feelings as he aims for ambitious heights in his professional life while neglecting those around him.
On the new record, Slowthai stated, "The first album was the sound of where I’m from and everything I thought I knew."
"The second album is what was relevant to me at that moment in time, the present. And this album is completely me — about how I feel and what I want to be… it’s everything I’ve been leading up to.”
UGLY is touted to be about reconnecting with first principles, as slowthai plunges into rock music with equal parts singing as rapping. It is rumoured to be a striking departure from the traditional slowthai sound and returning to his roots as Tyron Kaymone Frampton.
With the record he heavily pulls from his music taste as a teenager where he listened to the likes of Nirvana, Radiohead and Daniel Johnston.
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“This album was me trying to emulate the spirit of the brotherhood ethos that bands have. Music is about the feeling and emotion that goes into it. Like an artist making a painting, it's the expression of that moment in time," he stated.
"I really felt like I didn’t want to rap, whereas before, rap was the only way I could express myself with the tools I had. Now that I have more freedom to create and do more, why wouldn’t we change it up?”
The record is produced by Dan Carey at his home studio in South London and alongside frequent collaborator Kwes Darko.
You can pre-order the album HERE and check out Selfish below.