Hailing from seemingly disparate backgrounds as hip hop MCs, punk bands, soul collectives and dance producers, Manchester rap/pop rockers Y.O.U.N.G have recently released their brand new single Exposure.
Exposure opens with a funky, driving guitar riff before breaking into the sharp lyrical tongue of the band’s MC, Ben James, ahead of its huge anthemic pop choruses. The resulting sound explodes as if Loyle Carner was jamming with Twenty One Pilots, or Lethal Bizzle fronted Royal Blood.
The new single is the follow-up to their tearaway debut What I Gotta Do. The five-piece (Chez Davis – vocals/guitar, Ben James – rap, James Skehan – guitar/production, Tom Whitehead – bass and Graeme Smith – drums) are already turning heads with their exciting alt-pop blend of rap, pop and rock having developed a fervent fanbase across Europe from the extensive touring they completed prior to its release earlier this year.
Soon to be hitting the road this winter, the band will shortly be announcing a mini European headline tour through Live Nation, which will call at London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Warsaw. Judging Y.O.U.N.G’s already considerable online presence, the kids do indeed know where it’s at. Check out the track below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their latest single and more!
How has the release of Exposure gone down with fans so far?
The fans love it, we’ve had so many cool messages popping up on Twitter and Facebook!! We can’t wait to drop the music video in a few weeks too. We’ve had some pretty on-point write ups starting to come in from press and it even got its first major UK radio plays last week.
Tell us something about the single no one knows?
That we wrote it and recorded it in one evening!
How is this different to What I Gotta Do?
The production is a little more organic in Exposure. It’s more old school real rock sounding, real live drums, full on energy live. What I Gotta Do, even though it has that rock element, is a little more processed and has a more old school hiphop beat with the rock chords. Both we see as two of the more rocky stuff we’re going to put out, but theres not a huge deal between them.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
I would like to do a song with Twenty One Pilots, we have a similar vibe. Ben can have a little rap battle with them and then Chez can come in and rock the chorus.
Will you be releasing an EP or an album at all this year?
We’re releasing single after single building up to an album release next year.
Will you be touring at all this year again?
The plan is to do a couple of warm up shows, maybe a support and then our own tour later next year. We really wanna be in a place where we’re hitting the festivals next summer!
How was your European tour back in August/September?
Amazing !!
Best experience of our lives, honestly having people sing back the words that have come from your brain is just surreal for me. I still can’t process it and I’m forever grateful we are given such opportunities. It was great to test new music too, and it really helped us develop into the band we are today. We can’t wait to get back on the road in soon!
What was your first gig you all went to?
Chez (Madness or Paul Weller)
Jamie – Eric Clapton
Ben – Shaggy and mystique with my mum like a rockstar