Yungblud speaks his truth on new album, "Weird"

Yungblud’s highly anticipated sophomore release, Weird, touches on powerful topics that we’ve come to expect from the powerfully outspoken Doncaster rocker. Yungblud (aka Dominic Harrison) hopes to achieve humanity and equality for every single person, and spread the message that being yourself isn’t anything to be ashamed of.

After the success of Yungblud’s debut release 21st Century Liability, Harrison decided to push the boundaries of his songwriting to touch on even more personal subjects such as gender identity, sexuality, drugs and love. He stated that the whole point of this new release is to “expand my fanbase and meet 10 million more people who feel like it’s not alright to be who they are.”

One of the most recent singles, “Mars,” touches on a true encounter with one of his fans. A young trans girl approached him in Maryland and told him about the struggles of being accepted by her parents. She said they couldn’t understand that she wasn’t their son, as she had always been their daughter. In response to this, she saved up and studied hard in order to get her parents to a Yungblud show, so they could be surrounded by other kids like her. After experiencing the accepting and proud Black Hearts Club, the parents accepted her as their daughter. This experience was so moving to Yungblud that it now lives on the album forever as a “neat whiskey story about life.”

According to Harrison, one of the hardest songs to finish on the record was “Freak Show.” He wanted it to sound like Eminem meets Panic! At The Disco meets Queen meets My Chemical Romance. The track incorporates many different sections, and the ultimate goal was to mix things that have been done, to create something completely new that hasn’t been done yet.

When asked “What song represents you the most?” Dominic chose “Love Song.” His fans created a community that made him feel comfortable enough to talk about his heart. While growing up, Harrison was exposed to domestic abuse in his household, which taught him that love was the equivalent to his parents physically fighting. After his first album, he met someone who completely changed his perception and reinvented every single feeling he’s ever felt, and he poured that into his work.

Of course, one of the standout singles from the release is the catchy track “Cotton Candy.” The song dives deep into sexual liberation in a flamboyant way. Harrison said that he wanted to promote the idea that having sex with a lot of people isn’t a shameful thing, but it is how we grow. He also wanted to touch on the idea that sexuality does not need to be so much pressure. He says we should just lose ourselves in others to figure out who we are, and this message comes across clearly in the music video; where he is accompanied by many different types of people.

The record has quite a fascinating album cover, featuring many different versions of Dominic. When asked about his inspiration for the album cover, he said that “we are all 10 different people at any one moment, and making peace with those people helps us figure out who we are.” He created a piece of art that you want to have in your room that says a million things at once. It is supposed to mean something different to everyone who looks at it.

At the end of the day, Yungblud just wants to tell the truth. He equates the truth and loving people unconditionally to freedom, and freedom to success in life. All of these messages shine through brightly on this record. He believes that “Yungbud is we, yungblud is us, yungblud is a culture of people who want to come together to belong somewhere.”

Find Weird on streaming platforms everywhere now, and buy tickets to the virtual Life on Mars Tour at yungbludofficial.com/tour.