Ep 94: IDLES

I'd just be grateful to play in a bin evening.

Everyone. What a weird and unsettling few months it's been since we were last together. I hope that you're doing okay.

But here we are.

A brand new series of midnight Chats starts right here. I'm Greg, and between my co host Stewart and I we're going to bring you ten new episodes of the podcast over the coming weeks. In a small change to how we do things. They're going to be released on a Tuesday at midnight, so we'll be here keeping you company all the way through the autumn. If you're joining us for the first time, come on in. You are

But here we go.

It's a pleasure to be back with a new run of Midnight Chats. This is episode ninety four with idols. Before we get get into it, This episode of Midnight Chats is kindly supported by Domino Records, who released loads of artists that we love, including past guest on the podcast, Georgia. Since she appeared on the podcast in May twenty nineteen, Georgia made the BBC Sound Long List and her second album, Seeking Thrills, was nominated for the twenty twenty Mercury Prize.

Midnight Snach, Midnight Midnight Face, Midnight Match.

I'm just pleased to see some other human beings. I'm going to be honest with you. Today is one of the first times that I've ventured out of my flat in five months. Got on public transport for the first time, which felt joyous but also a little bit weird scary. How are you both doing?

Yeah good. We've been.

Sat in different rooms with circle cycles of different people coming in and out, shaking our hands, high fiving our crotches, and spreading.

Jams all over the place. So we are well and truly decherried.

In the verses of COVID nineteen, but Na, it's I'm good, how are you?

It's of convoluted a strange, bizarre answer. I'm good. It's kind of this is nudi us too. It's weird doing things that were like completely normal to us. Now you feel completely novel and it's a bit strange and you feel kind of like the new kidets girl. But it's slowly coming back.

I think, Yeah, I'm done with it all.

Promoting an album in the age of coronavirus. On a practical level, what's that been like?

All right, Well, we just sat, like I said, We've just been in a room, and then people have come in a studio and everyone's just all the photographers have come to us, and then today we've just been in here all day wait for the journalists to come and ask me who down in the delco Is.

But yeah, it's been fine. I'm one of those people. I'm not very big pictury, like I keep forgetting.

I think it's a protective thing, self preservation, Like I don't need to know just how fucked it is at the moment. Obviously I pay attention to the numbers, and I'm concerned for the people.

Around me and others whatever, But really I think it's way more terrifying.

Then I'm letting I'm really scared of how idiotic people can be in the masses, just how fucking terrible this situation could get.

But there's no point in thinking about that. There's nothing we can do.

Just vote for labor a few years ago. That's probably what we should do.

Take me back to sort of February March time, and what did what's happened end up changing the schedule for you in any way? Do we you mid plans and sort of down tools. Obviously went into Lockdown the same as everybody else, but your circumstances, how did that change?

Obviously I was in La mixing the album when lock Din's were really kind of coming in across Europe and stuff like that, and I literally got off my flight the day before Lockdown was announced Tier and we just finished mixing the album. And actually our master and engineer, this guy Bernie Grunman, who's I think he's in his eighties. He might be in his eighties, so he's not supposed to be anywhere, but he managed to do us a favor and he drove in snuck under cover of Darkness

And obviously everybody's circumstance is different. Some people. I know that when we all had to retreat into our personal bubbles at home for that whatever ended up being two and a half months or something, what was that like for you both, you know, spending all that time at home, you know, what was that like and what was your communication like with the rest of them?

And during that period band wise, it was pretty straightforward, like we all resided in the fact we just starting new album, utilize that down time and I have some kind of introspected writing and teach ourselves songwriting a bit more, and then like congregate once a week on a zoom bad meeting all that shit.

It was cooled.

We're just seen as a challenge and we understand our privilege and how lucky we are as a band that our album had just been released and that we can come back to touring at a later date and people are still buying our merchandying some of that. So we just kind of embraced it, really and saw it as a healthy challenge because it was for us, very different for a friend's band and other people we know, but

But apart from the fatherhood side of things, like.

I've learned, I'm definitely an introvert and I enjoyed my own company and I started walking, which was like something I really was never interested in, but it's really transformed my life.

I did something similar. I created a new routine quite quickly, and now that I'm out of that routine, I'm I am really missing it, Like I'm missing that sort of hour at least a day where I was like, yeah, but when I finished work, I go for a walk, and now I'm not doing that. I feel dislodged, disjointed, not quite sure what the word is.

Yeah, I think I'm definitely a creature. I have it if I just really really embraced.

In situations like this where lots of people go through a huge shift in their life. For some that's a massive loss and some that's a massive game, depending on their situation. For me, it was a it was a loss of contact with my daughter, but he's gain in downtime from touring and from everything.

So I just saw that as a privilege.

And it's like, if I'm not going to be with my daughter, I'm going to really put this is a good use to do some work and go for walks and all sorts of stuff.

So I really embraced it. I had to really for my insanity, what.

About you beame it was good, like I got to hang out with my daughter. Conversely to Joe, it was I've been since we had finished her in in December, so I've been kind of looking after during the day whenever my web works for three months already, so it just meant even more time with her, and we've really developed a connection, which is great. And I just you know, that's the thing I've got to focus on is the

So often Joe Wicks every day.

Yeah, no, we actually did quite a bit.

But no, that's the kind of essex essex Yeah yeah, yeah.

You you loves Yeah.

But yeah, so that physical basically need to get.

Every day literally like an animal, Like I need to like lift something heavy and through it or like thrash about it like I do on stage, and that gets gets that out of my system.

So yeah, I really missed performing live, but so I've had to like I exercise like four times a day.

Yeah that how does that link to the you mentioned on the mental health side of things as well? So that did you feel a bit kind of agaphobic? We've not to go out and spend.

Mainly like this kind of like pent up testosterone ridgey thing, like I just get angry at stuff. So it's really stupid, like it's very animalistic, but I just need to like get that out of my system and then i'm like the zen person that I normally am.

Some people you could get it.

Not that way, like not it's not aggressive. It's like just expand that energy.

Yeah, need help with that.

You need some people that need taking care of.

Yeah.

I bought a part of Got a punch Bag?

Did you have to start yet?

Because I was boxing for like six months before it, and then I was like, yeah.

So I've got a heavy bag, which is like about fifty kilograms, a bit lighter than fifty kids heavy.

Sorry, yeah, that's a bit heavy, isn't it.

It's really it's no broken risks.

But honestly, for the first few weeks, it was like my wrists like the next day were really.

Bad, thirty seconds and then done, and you're like.

Well, that's what I did it the wrong way.

I was doing like I did I was I think I started with like eight eight rounds and then I went up to ten rounds.

And it's just three minutes for two minutes.

It's my it's on my app.

I tell you here we go.

It's three minutes three minutes.

That's intense, stupid. It's like, I haven't I've only been doing it for.

Six months before that.

It's the fucking stupid idea anyway, But I love fast.

And that helped as well. Just expend some restless energy.

Yeah, yeah, I mean I was.

I was doing it more just a note how to knock someone's head off if I needed to, rather than expending.

He don't have any pen utridge.

Joe often comes again up against people that he might need to knock her head off.

And I'm basically I.

Live in a very dangerous place and there's ninjas everywhere.

You're still talking about Bristol.

Now Cardiff, mate, Oh I lived in Cardiff.

Yeah, there's ninjas in Cardiff.

No, no, it was it was It was more for exercise to punch bag. It wasn't for expending or fighting or anything. It was just like a really good form of exercise. Because I find I like to exercise, well, I need to not know i'm exercising, So I've put little dots on the bag and I focus on getting hitting that right and hitting it properly, because if you hit something badly, your shoulders out.

For a month, which quite literally learned the painful way. When was the first time that the band got back together. You got in a room and you've played music.

Oh my god, right, so that was two three weeks ago ago? Whatever, whenever, whenever, Lockdown was eased enough for us to be able to get in the room we were in the very first day we signed. It was I was really taken aback. We sounded like a really terrible idol to cover a band. It was awful and like I got scared and I was talking about love. My wife was like, you're really talking about this a lot. You don't normally talk about this kind of thing a lot.

I think a halftime, just some oranges sit on the side for a moment.

The next three weeks are gonna have to be real because we've got happy road live sessions.

It came back quick though.

It's the fitness though. I don't like we're doing three three hours.

It's gonna be like man, I was just.

You know, it's like going into the deep end.

I think it would make for more interesting live sessions because it will be a struggle.

Are you thinking about it? So last night Mike Skinner did a Streets live show and just because it was a live stream, just played with the format, like moved around. It was an Earth in London. There was like a stage set and moved around the venue and just kind of had fun with it, knowing that unfortunately can be doing just a gig in front of people, but made

It's n not a lot of TV performances are so weird mm because for me it's like it's it's a gig. I'm gonna picture the audience those.

You know how many people are bought tickets.

And couple of thousand, whatever, Just picture them.

Before I go in, and then just really focus on the music when I'm playing, like pot, focus on the.

Song and what I mean.

Cause it's a new thing. It's not like life. It's not a gig, but you treat it like right.

You practice and practice and practice, and just be as momentary present as possible by letting go y, I think it's kind of to be as honest as possible with it. You know, that's why we're doing that Abbey Roads and not Venus, because we.

Know it's not a gig, so we can make more of it with the recording and the sound and the quality of that and the venue being of interest is just more interesting for the ticket buyer.

Is fucking what it is.

It is a very strange clash of circumstance, which is a good challenge for us. I think that it's important that we've got something like that to please.

As you said earlier, almost not thinking too much about the current situation, you're rehearsing for a couple of special live stream performances. Normally, what would happen is Idol would go on tour for a year eighteen months once you release a record, that's not going to happen for the moment. Have you allowed your mind to go there? You pessimistic about the idea of doing that at some stage, optimistic at the moment, have even been thinking about it at all?

I have to really, just because we need to know when we always have six months onwards, so we've normally got eighteen months planned ahead of us. It's been twelve months for quite a long time, but in the last year or two it's been eighteen months. Obviously we've changes here and there all the time, but it's just how

So as soon as it's safe to get back out there, you'll be You can't wait for that moment, presumably.

Yeah, it's like it's there in our mind, fuck ya. But also, you know, we are thinking, are the things that we do. You still have control over things we are still able to do. So we're focusing on writing and recording and getting things together for another album. But you know, we'll drop that out as soon as we can if we find out we can go play Guatemala and we'll go play Guatemala's if for us today.

So would you be good if you didn't get the chance to tour Ultra Mono in the same way that you have done with the previous two albums.

We will, you will, you will.

You're waiting until the time is right. You wouldn't kind of say say there's no gigs for another year eighteen months.

We will tour it exactly as we would have before. It deserves it, and our audience will appreciate it.

You know.

It's like that is one serious bottleneck ready to go off. In my opinion, we love playing live as much as people love going to see live music. So I think the marriage of that, when we are all allowed back into a room where there was no social fucking distancing, it's going to be insane.

From a punter perspective. I mean, I'm not on stage like you guys are, but it does feel very odd to have been starved with that experience for getting on for six months now.

So I mean, like just seeings that I was thinking about this the other day, I'm now really excited about going to see Proto Marters album at festivals. I'm really excited about seeing girl band's album because they've also amazing life and I've been disallowed those tours and at.

The moment, like those festivals, so are normally be like, oh yeah, I'll gus to. Everyone's going to be like for the first time film.

If people are honest, festivals are fucking you know, hard. They're a hard gig for artists, not for punters, for for artists because it's not their show. It's like an away gig. It's not an away game, you know. But I think not ILike I'd just be grateful to play in a.

Bin, do you know what I mean?

So, like first showback, I think the atmosphere backstage at festivals is going to be uncommonly electric.

I think for the first time it's going to things like that.

You know, I'm so excited, but it's so far away when.

I watch all the glass and by footage. This year that was a real Obviously my mind has gone back to thinking about shows a lot, but that particular weekend and just consuming all of the all of the footage and all of the performances and stuff in it. Well, just it was the equal parts enjoyable and gutting not to have any of those events.

Having in Yeah, but now the fiftieth anniversary classes will probably have idols playing at it.

So there you go.

That would be good. You're welcome. That's a joke.

Just for the listeners you're listening to midnight snacks. This is more than light and buttery, short bed short bread rings by Border, beautifully crafted biscuits. There are the snack companies out there, over priced snack companies in hotels.

You've got some miniature Harry Bows there as well, and a couple.

Of tang fastics.

Yeah, there you go, it's Harry Boy snack.

Yeah, it's not a staple part of your diety. Is it's a small it's a small tree, color tree.

You know, I need a snack. That's not your snack, Harry Bows the place.

Is a snack normally savory.

That's a good question. What banana is a snack?

Is it not called banana sna It's not a tree, is it?

No?

I'd call n tell.

On toast about dressing on you.

I want to ask you both about some of the projects that have and since Joy, since the release of the last album, and stuff that's happened in the last few months. Joe, you got stuck into Bally TV. If you wanted to do something like that for a long time or was that idea born out of what's been going on the last few months.

Good question.

I've wanted to do it for a while, not not Bally TV. Bally TV, yes, called Bally TV. But I wanted to do something in between T five Friday, the Tube, shooting stars, basically anything from the late nineties, and also, like Jules Holland, just like predominantly be a music show where there's a live performance and then I chat to people afterwards. But it wouldn't look and be the same

TV and stuff.

So it would be nice to just again, just like like we did with the band, is like, just have a bit of a fairer representation of what real means and I have interesting and interested conversations about music by musicians who actually are important to.

Sanity rather than custom what's.

Some of your favorite moments of that being so far.

Nadia from Pussy Riot, Just encountering hers great, She's scary and very chill.

Interesting.

Talking to Kenny Beats and Kate Tempest and my friend Bobby was a beautiful time, very you know, because obviously I'm the mediator between different personalities, so they.

Were all great.

Every guest was interesting and interested. But when you're the media, it's like having a birthday party.

You're the one who has the least fun.

Everyone else is like weally cake ship faced by, whereas the person who's having the birthday has the least fine. And it just felt like the Kate Tempest and Kenny Bat's one.

I didn't need to be there.

I just listened Stunding and Bobby as well, my mate Bobby answer.

They were all.

Just just it was a really beautiful combination of personality.

Said.

I was just like, oh, this is fascinating, and I just got more and more confident with it. And I knew who was on enough times to do some research and write my questions. I find that quite interesting and quoting them, quoting people, quoting people back at them, you said this, and then.

They're like, oh, yeah it is. Yeah.

It's almost like I don't mind doing this. Yeah right, some of them. But yeah no, So it's just an interesting challenge. It's just something to do. But so, yeah, it's circumstance, not just me into doing something similar to what I've wanted to do for a while.

But if I do do it properly, you.

Know, I think it would be And what about you, and you've got your project with Lead, Yeah, if you enjoyed doing that playing that together.

Yeah, it's been weird. We kind of again, we all sat down as a band and talked about different things that we could do. Mainly have been talking about doing something like this for a while because we're very nerdy about gear like a by guitar, pedals, guitars, amplifiers and stuff like that, and there's a bit of a saturated market in those kind of shows, but they're all very instructional, a little bit dry.

And just so fucking dry.

A little bit dry, but and also you don't really like it's always someone playing lose licks or like you know, just not really getting getting the idea of why you would put pedals together and forms of the creative process and stuff like that. So we decided to do this, and we were like, right, well, we'll get some guests on and kind of really get into their creative process, and we'd also use it as a way of kind

And was it kitle bonn or katela wrong?

What was the other choice?

She came out with no playing on the French.

Ye now in hindsight, yeah.

But kitler wrong kind of feels more wrong, like it's he's just Caitlin non is.

Like non kate lebon.

Luckily no, we actually we actually used them all. She was lying to us, just.

What was she going to shed?

She give the thumbs up for all of them. Yeah, one of the nothing like it, like nothing like it. She was a ghast, you could.

Tell she was a ghast, but then said, yes, anyway, there.

Was there was people, There was There was one bit as well, where I was playing her song back to her. She put her hands on her face like she was inconsolable and didn't and didn't didn't move her hands from her face until a little while after I started playing isn't that bad? I thought it was good, but she was just like, what is what is this?

She's a serious musician, but.

She is also like one of my guitar heroes. I think she's like her choices that she makes when she's playing guitar really inspire me. So a bit funny, I haven't that chat whether really.

Speaking of guests, let's talk ol Tomno and the people that you've collaborated with on the new record. Should we talk about Jamie Kellen?

Yes, yes, let's I always want to talk about Jimmy Collen.

So I approached him at the Mercuries because he's a judge, and I said, hello, chat.

I'm always a massive fan of his radio show.

I never listened to his music, but listen to his show a lot because we worked in a kitchen is a KP and C. Chef was like, well into radio two and I love this show. I think he's great. I think he comes across really well and again interested and interesting. So yeah, we got on and then uh, he said, if you ever need piano on the album Let's Now, and we were like, we do not need piano, but we definitely need Jane Culler, so.

We got him involved.

He's supposed to be that signifier of working hard for what you love from everything that we're about, and that ignorance to cuts that kind of what I've been saying is that q dos is a bit like Stockholm syndrome. You know, like your you're captives, you fall in love with and really they they only do you harm. Q los is a bullshit currency in the city. Doesn't go as far in Bristol, I don't think, and we can

Bullies counts.

So we wanted wanted to get away from that, build build an arena where people feel safe to be themselves instead of pretending to be others, and including Jamie Culluman, and that should annoy those captors, It should annoy the bullies, should annoy the assholes, and we love it. I think it's a great, great start to a very violent song. It's like a nice breather, it's like a little palate cleanser in the in the otherwise pretty.

Full on album.

So it works for me perfect it's perfectly both in sonics it works perfectly and in messaging Ethos.

Jenny Beth wren Ls. David Yao also contributed to the album. How did it work with those guests including Jamie you recorded in Paris? Were they coming through the studio with a contributing remotely? How did it work? And why did you want to get those people?

And actually Colin Webster from the band sex Wing, we wanted him on early Doors.

He hit that.

Yeah, I forgot to say that, and I said it was David ya to premeditate.

Yeah.

Oh. The others were more of a kind of a those are people we went out actively when you were like I want you on this record. The others it happened.

It was less recording, Okay.

Saxophone was in the was present in the writing. We kind of it was always there, like this bit needs that that tom Bro that tone, massive fan of sex Wing, like and the kind of tones that he gets, the violence that's in them and the kind of threat that he gets out of something that's kind of saxy and you know it's kill. So, yeah, he was involved and he kind of came down to the studio, did everything in one afternoon, and then kind of hung out for

Dev I wrote.

I always wrote backing vocals with Devi or baring in mind, it was nearly all Dev in this album, just because Yeah, I'm not a massive fan of your voice.

I don't like my voice out there.

But like you know, massive fan of Death's either.

I just it like you work with what you got.

Yeah, but yeah, the same with me.

I'm not a great singer, and some of the things I sing, I know you don't like either. It's like he's but anyway. So with Dev it's just he's losing his voice. He smokes too much, he drinks too much, and he's got a terrible singing technique. So at the time we were like, do you know what would be much better than Dev David?

Yeah, you know, I wrote, I wrote them with a better DEVI in mind.

What about Jenny Jenny Beth.

We met up with her to do her TV show Echoes Yep, and obviously I'm I was friends were before we met and stuff, and I stayed in contact with Jenny. So we were on the TV show and I was talking her through the album. I said, there's a song that's French and she said it's terrible French. It's like you say, don't touch me. So I was like, oh fuck, uh panic. The engineer at the time, who was French, said it was the correct French. I said, is this

It was like sick. Turns out it's the wrong French.

So I said, well, we can change it and you could just sing the chorus cause I wanted a female perspective on this song. Anyway, she was like, keep it bad French because that's more honest. I was like, that's a very good point, especially in tune with what Oldromnto is. She's about self expect acceptance, Bone and I talked about having that female Tom Borough and perspective for that song anyway, and it worked beautifully. She was very very forgiving to sing on that song in particular.

But he's got to leave now because he's got he's got somewhere to be.

A man about down.

Cheers Bone before we ask a few more questions about Ultramonto Mike Skinner in the Streets and your contribution to that record. What was the experience like of stepping out of the Idols collective of creating stuff and working with somebody like Mike Skinner.

Well, I mean, he he's sent the beat over. Obviously, it's like an album, it's an album of collaboration, so he had he had a couple of beats, so he sent the beats over and it just sounded like our worlds of intertwined because it was very similar to me. That song is quite similar and what we wrote over the top of the beat was similar to what we were doing on Tomnto, so which just fit in the remit of what we're doing. I actually had some lyrics for it that I ended up using on grounds because

But yeah, I mean it was great. It's like working with one of my heroes.

It's bizarre for a relief because he's a good guy. Yeah, and he's aligned with his strengths as an artist. It's like that's what it's like in real life, which is a relief.

I think for me.

Was it an encouraging enough process to want to do some more of that stuff in the future or what kind of stuff, or just like contributing to other people's records and.

Oh yeah, well I've done I've done a few now. Yeah, I'll always do it. I'm like a yes guy, Okay, as long as it's not shit, of course, or I'm busy. The idols always comes first until it doesn't. But yeah, I love it. I love it. I just I like the challenge because what I would like to do is to collaborate with different artists.

I've just done the recently. Actually that was very different.

To what people know me as, but it's still me, and I feel like I should challenge myself for different genres and and push my poeticism to a level where I can do whatever the fuck I want.

I will.

Every idol's album has been a reaction to the work that you've done before. How is Ultra Mono a reaction to joy as an active resistance.

It's entirely a reaction to joys an active resistance.

Ultramono came as a realization I was out of just in a relabhaps of alcohol and drugs. I was very lost and sad and depressed and angry and stuff.

So I had to kind of regroup and started.

Ultra Monto is about the entirety of being in and now in the present and self acceptance and being a defense lawyer as well as the prosecution on your own past and present and future and really truly, you know,

You know, there is such a thing. There isn't such a thing. There's good art.

It's just it's concise art, and there's true, authentic art and brilliant art, vibrant art, and we wanted to make all of that be true and vibrant, brilliant, and for us, that was at the time, learning to be as lucid, transparent, present in the moment as possible.

Ultramno was the phrase we.

Came up with first, and then we worked towards that artistically, and I worked towards that existentially therapeuticly.

Yeah. I mean, in the liner notes for the album, you talk about how maybe you found yourself straying a little bit away from not the vision or just the path you wanted to be on, that some of those distractions, external elements had found their way in. So how did you what was your route to remaining present and focused?

Dissolution of ego, I guess because ego assumes it's about this inflated self, but what it is really is relying on other people's reaction to you and what you think you are. Instead of just being good or bad, it's just about being present. And yeah, it became a thing again, like it does every time something we put out happens. I'm so invested in our art and our music and lyrics. People were slagging off the music, but it feels like

It doesn't matter.

It's about the music being You can't be true and be obsessed with other people's opinions too, don't correlate. So yeah, I had to just realign, you know, regroup and being unified, accept all parts of myself in the moment, it's true, to be true and to carry on.

One thing I wanted to ask about is something that you did. I don't remember if it was at the start of this year and end of LAS you're the talk the Q and atal where you're taking answer questions and answers from people that attended the events, basically just the people in the audience. How did you find that experience in terms of the types of things that people ask you. Effectively, people that are fans of the band, they came along, they had the chance to ask you anything.

Yeah, journalists wouldn't ever allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to play the card of I don't know how this works. How does it work? You know, that's not journalists do. They're like for the sake of the reader. But people are generally interested, and they're like, it's I don't know, I don't know what the questions are. I can't really remember them.

I was just wondering if it, like, basically something different came out of that process and you were like, well, I'm refreshed because I didn't normally get asked that type of thing. I don't know, Maybe you didn't. Maybe they were the types of thing you were used to being asked.

Yeah, they are pretty similar. It's just the tone of the question is less.

Assertive. I don't know.

I genuinely can't remember any of the questions. I was very like just present and you know, conversational. I don't like to try to be as honest as possible, so I don't really remember my answers. They're just like talking to me in a room, do you know what I mean? Like, I'm not going to fucking embellish anything or lie or but it felt it felt really good. It felt really good. Like I was worried that my ego would be inflated and it would be all.

Like, so, Joe, how'd you write these amazing songs? But it was none of that shit. But it was good. My ego was was, if anything, deflated enough. It was good. It was good. And hanging out with Adam gears or so a huge privilege.

Yeah. I'm looking forward to the Creation film that's coming see.

Yeah, me too, because you know what you can see, he's like, I think he's a lethal thinker.

It's the best way, you know.

It's like there's no fucking bullshit, but he's he knows what he's doing. You know, those people that just don't have to prove themselves but are very welcoming at the same time.

Yea beautiful man, really cool sky.

Final question is about we talked a bit about, you know, divorcing the aspect of ego from the art that you create and just being in the band. Whether that's like the reception of the album in terms of reviews or guess things like sales and things like that looking upon what's going to happen with Ultramno, how you measure the success of that? How will you be pleased by that being delivered to listeners or in a way just by the fact that it's been created? Is it kind of

Yeah, I mean, I think we made this album at the perfect time in terms of COVID was going to happen either way. So yes, we couldn't have made an album about self belief at a better time. Because I don't need anyone to tell me what this album is. This album's brilliant album because it sounds and says exactly what we set out to do.

A year ago. We started writing it.

I don't know when, but we wrote most of it within three months, just before we went into the studio, so we didn't have much time together in a room because daughters and whatnot, and like it is exactly what Baron and has set out to make. It sounds exactly like I imagine it to sound, and my lyrics are as potent and me as they should be and can be it possibly can be.

So I'm really happy with it. That is our success.

But along the way I will I will pay attention to things that the are barometers of success in terms of everyone's knowledge of what that means. I'll probably know more about record sales than I ever would have normally because I'll just be taking and it's something as a measurement, like what else do we have at the moment, But like I'm because of this situation, I'm going to make sure I pay less attention to that stuff as possible, because I don't think it's healthy in any sense of the word.

I just think it's like best like it is.

What it is like as far as I don't feel pride on anything like that, but as far as happiness and contentness with the album, I am fully at peace with it.

Because it's brilliant.

Anyway.

Good Night,