Today, genre-smashing alternative artist grandson announces his new album I Love You, I’m Trying out 5TH Mayvia Fueled By Ramen. Where his past work tackled political and social issues in nature, the new album turns the lens inward resulting in a 12 track collection of grandson’s most personal and vulnerable songwriting, to date.
“I’m painting the intimate portrait of myself I know how – covering themes of self harm, family trauma, the hidden side of life on the road, and so much more,” grandson shares. “This is the album that 16 year old me needed. This is the album I was scared to write and the album fans of mine deserve to hear. Above all this is the album where I face a big question: can I handle the changes life throws at me, and if this all that there is to life, can it be enough to be happy?”
New energetic single, Drones is out today. Pivoting from spoken lyrics to a frantic chorus vocal performance, the track is an industrial dance-punk anthem that revels in the bad feelings. Exploring new sonic heights, the track’s evolved production provides a perfect backdrop for weighty lyrics – “Tell me one good lie / so I can sleep at night / Hurt me one more time / I want to feel alive.”
“Drones is a twisting, spiralling journey through the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day when the hard truth may bury us,” the multi-platinum artist shares. “I wanted to pay homage to bands like Tool and System of a Down known for unpredictable time signatures but bring 808s and hip hop into it”
grandson creates sonic landscapes and writes songs to feel understood. After being labelled a ‘political artist’ (which he is honoured to be considered) he felt slightly boxed in by the title. The overwhelming pressure of writing a song to ‘change the world’ and imposter syndrome had taken over, pushing to the brink of burnout. After 2020’s daring theatrical debut album, Death of an Optimist, the singer-songwriter wanted to create a project where he felt like he had something to lose. An album that featured honest conversations about his struggles that he was so desperately trying to overcome through songwriting in the first place. “I didn’t feel like I was bringing all of me to the table,” he says.
Cue, I Love You, I’m Trying which comes from a place of surrender – a surrender to control the narrative. It’s a deep dive into the psyche of a fragile, oft-emotionally unstable and yet wildly creative force. The result is a stunning, ambitious achievement, and one that peels back the layers of grandson’s public persona in ways he never could have imagined. A bold undertaking, the album was written with a sense of survival and urgency – the artist penned more than 40 songs, whittling them down to the essentials which appear on the 12 track collection.
From Two Along Their Way, which features a repurposed old recording from his father, to the chugging hip hop alternative anthem and lead single Eulogy (which has poignant and relevant line – “Do I exist if I don’t exist on the internet”) grandson has the unique ability to lay himself bare, to reveal himself to his listeners and bring them along on the journey with him through life.
grandson will embark on a massive global headline tour. Kicking things off with a two-month North American trek, the upcoming tour will also see grandson hitting stops in the US, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The UK leg kicks off in Leeds on 8th September, and will now see grandson play not one, but two London shows! The original date at Electric Ballroom on 15th September sold out so quickly, a second has been added for 14th September, due to phenomenal demand. Tickets for all dates are on sale now, here.
I Love You, I’m Trying tracklist:
1. Two Along Their Way
2. Eulogy
3. Something To Hide
4. Drones
5. I Love You, I’m Trying
6. Half My Heart
7. When the Bomb Goes
8. Enough
9. Murderer
10. I Will Be Here When You’re Ready To Wake Up (ft. Wafia)
11. Heather
12 Stuck Here With Me
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