Yungblud releases new album “Idols”: Rocky anthems for authenticity and identity

A heavy-seas ballad: "Everyone loves who you are / but you don't let them see inside, do you?" sings Yungblud with a husky voice in "War." A song blast for identity and authenticity against a society of pretenders that makes it difficult for the sincere to avoid drowning in their will to live in truth.

The 27-year-old singer from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, even pumps classic rock into his music in 2025. His fourth album, "Idols," combines the hard sounds of his old days with his familiar mix of alternative rock and melodic Britpop à la Oasis and Placebo.

"Hello Heaven, Hello," the track that opens the album, clocks in at nine minutes and six seconds, a length reminiscent of the days when bands didn't care one bit about the radio stations' three-minute time limits. A suite, three songs in one: It starts psychedelic-pop and ends acoustically, but the in-between sounds as if Led Zeppelin had risen from the tomb of rock 'n' roll icons, as if the voice of a young Robert Plant had entered Yungblud's throat.

As a 19-year-old, Dominic Harrison, aka Yungblud, exploded onto the British scene with the funky rap-rock number "King Charles." An angry statement for a youth that no one listens to while the old ones ruthlessly ruin the planet. Dylan and the punks were clearly role models for the bushy-haired youngster.

In the video, he appeared to be under high voltage and demanded satisfaction: "We're taking your car now, sir!" In 2017, Charles was not referring to the Queen's son-in-waiting, who was still in waiting at the time, but to the first king of that name (1600-1649), who was considered a tyrant and executed.

This debut was both polished and raw. A stamping spirit, fueled by the vibration of his ADHD: "I will not allow my insecurities to define who I am," he promised five years ago in "God Save Me, But Don't Drown Me Out."

Today, Yungblud is audibly striving for a wider impact and delivers a series of Generation Z rock'n'roll anthems - "Lovesick Lullaby" (here he raps again), "Zombie", "The Greatest Parade" or "Ghosts", which seems like a forgotten gem from U2's "Unforgettable Fire" days, and at the end of which guitar and symphony music embrace each other.

Pansexual and advocating for a masculine approach to love, Yungblud is the enemy of pretense and any view of humanity with a gradient. With "Idols," he's on his way to stadium lightning: "All the hopes and dreams I've borrowed / - know, my friend, I leave them to you," he says in "Hello Heaven, Hello." A gift to everyone.

"Idols," the first part of a double album, resonates with the displeasure of a grown-up man with his contemporaries who sleep in their desires and imaginations instead of feeling, living, and fighting. "Everything you are is a self-fulfilling prophecy," Yungblud chews it up in the closing piano ballad "Supermoon." The final idol hovers in the song's orbit: Elton John with his "Rocket Man."

Yungblud – “Idols” (Locomotion/Capitol) – now available

Yungblud on the “Idols” tour (dates in Germany) : October 7 – Düsseldorf, Mitsubishi Electric Halle; October 14 – Munich, Zenith; October 20 – Berlin, Uber Eats Music Hall; October 27 – Hamburg, Sporthalle.