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Artist News Releases
Slowthai announces new album, imprisons himself in mirrored room
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 26 January 2023
Slowthai has announced that he will release his third album, ‘UGLY’, in March. Despite the negative connotations of the album title, he says it actually stands for “U Gotta Love Yourself”, and that he’s had the acronym tattooed underneath his eye.
“The first album was the sound of where I’m from and everything I thought I knew”, he says. “The second album is what was relevant to me at that moment in time, the present. And this album is completely me – about how I feel and what I want to be. It’s everything I’ve been leading up to”.
The album sees him plunging into rock music with producer Dan Carey, and singing as well as rapping.
“This album was me trying to emulate the spirit of the brotherhood ethos that bands have”, he explains. “Music is about the feeling and emotion that goes into it. Like an artist making a painting, it’s the expression of that moment in time. I really felt like I didn’t want to rap, whereas before, rap was the only way I could express myself with the tools I had. Now that I have more freedom to create and do more, why wouldn’t we change it up?”
“It doesn’t matter what or who people think you are, you’ve just got to stay true and respect yourself”, he goes on. “I have UGLY tattooed on my face because it’s a reminder to love myself, rather than put myself down constantly or feel the impression people have of me should determine who I am as a person. At the end of the day, the art I make is for myself, and the music I make is for myself, if I enjoy it then who gives a fuck?”
“So, the way I should live my life should be without any expectations of anyone else”, he concludes. “I think it’s something that we all need to hear because everyone needs a smile, and everyone needs a bit of joy and you need to look in yourself to really feel it because no one else can give you the real feeling”.
The album is out on 3 Mar. To promote its announcement, Slowthai is currently livestreaming himself from inside a room built out of two-way mirrors. You can drop in and watch him here:
