You Me At Six are back with a new single, the second from their upcoming album SUCKAPUNCH. ‘Beautiful Way’, their latest single, premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record last night (September 21). They also confirmed details of their new album: SUCKAPUNCH will be released on January 15, via Underdog Records/AWAL.
‘Beautiful Way’ follows ‘MAKEMEFEELALIVE’, released earlier this month. For a niche and dated cultural reference, it sounds like ‘Planetary (GO!)’ from My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days. Indeed, what with the lyrical themes and the video storylines that You Me At Six have been releasing recently, we might wonder if SUCKAPUNCH is heading in a similar direction to My Chemical Romance’s fourth album – although it is very clear that You Me At Six’s seventh offering is going to be much heavier than we are used to from them.
NME asked lead singer Josh Franceschi whether ‘Beautiful Way’ was a good indicator of how SUCKAPUNCH will sound sonically. He replied with this: “It takes the traditional You Me At Six sound and gives it a fresh feel which is what we wanted for this album.
“On our last album ‘VI’, it felt like we were sparring with the idea of the next step for the band. With ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ it feels like we’re there. We now understand how to implement our interests in hip-hop and R&B without it feeling forced or contrived. I don’t think anybody has heard our band do what we are doing right now.”
Speaking to both Kerrang! and NME, Franceschi has let the word “masterpiece” slip out. We have to wonder if the term is used partly in recognition of the themes that You Met At Six are choosing to tackle on their seventh album. The standalone single that they released earlier this year, ‘Our House (The Mess We Made)’ betrays overwhelming distress at the state of the climate. It was written during the outbreak of bushfires in Australia at the beginning of year, and it strikes me as one of the most sophisticated, ambitious releases I have ever heard from You Me At Six. Little could they have known just how many crises and injustices we would find ourselves facing by now.
‘MAKEMEFEELALIVE’ is concerned for “the lost generation”. The second verse goes, “let’s start the conversation / how do we alienate them / 2020 invasion of the senses”. ‘Beautiful Way’ turns this inward, a song about wrestling with identity, coping mechanisms, mistakes and “the wear and tear of being a human being”.
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Both of their latest videos present these heavy themes with dystopian storylines. ‘Beautiful Way’ could be a trailer for a new Mad Max film, set in the middle of a desert, containing intricate and absorbing dance/martial arts routines, while the band powers through their new single on an outdoor set on a different plain. Their stage is marked out with red sand that looks eerily more like blood as the video progresses.
A further recent offering from the band is the lyric video to ‘MAKEMEFEELALIVE’ which contains footage of drummer Dan Flint skydiving (something that makes him feel alive, you see?) Although the song is heavy, the video is seriously feel-good; Flint’s adrenaline feels contagious. Certainly, these are explosive, energetic releases from a band who know exactly where they want to be in the game.
SUCKAPUNCH tracklist:
1. ‘Nice To Me’1
2. ‘MAKEMEFEEALIVE’
3. ‘Beautiful Way’
4. ‘WYDRN’
5. ‘Suckapunch’
6. ‘Kill The Mood’
7. ‘Glasgow’
8. ‘Adrenaline’
9. ‘Voicenotes’
10. ‘Finish What I Started’
11. ‘What’s It Like’
