Meet the new boy wonder. British singer, songwriter and producer Alfie Templeman today releases his second studio album Radiosoul. In a constant state of evolution, the self-taught musician reaches new heights on the album, taking off into a new acid-pop-inspired direction, as he cleverly and thoughtfully writes about his experiences with pivotal moments on his journey so far.

“It was about finding my feet and becoming more comfortable with myself again, and also becoming an adult,” he says. “Moving out, understanding myself and realising I’ve changed a lot. I don’t exactly know who I am at this stage but it’s normal to feel that way. I feel like even though I’m terrible at talking about my feelings, music does make it easier.” Collaborating with legendary producers including Nile Rodgers and Dan Carey, Alfie has crafted a wonderful world of escapism. We spoke to the artist about creating his best work yet:

We love the name of the album. Tell us how it came to be?

The radio aspect came from observing my grandparents constantly leaving the radio on in their house. I thought it correlated with how once upon a time people were so grateful for things like TV, radio, comic books and other forms of entertainment that came at a fairly mundane time of living. Now, the world takes things for granted as we’re constantly on our phones being superficial and only showing our good sides. So it was essentially me preaching at people to show a bit of humanity in themselves!

We have read that it delves into the profound impact of social media. How has social media impacted you? What do you think we will discover about its impact years from now?

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the internet. Thanks to the internet, I’ve met a lot of great people, but at the same time, half of my job nowadays is posting TikToks, which is something I certainly don’t want to do much of, if at all.
On the topic of social media’s future impact, I think maybe later on in life, people might start regretting the amount they’ve spent on their phones. There’s probably some statistic about how many years of your life you’ve spent so far scrolling on social media. I’m worried that people’s attention spans will dramatically decrease even more from what we’re currently seeing.

What else inspired you while you were creating? Were you listening to other music, watching films, or reading any books?

I was listening to everything. Prince, Talking Heads, Eno, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Stereolab, Chic, Alex G, Todd Rundgren and many more crept their way into this album. It felt really great to try anything and everything.

You’ve worked with some incredible people on this record, like Nile Rodgers, Dan Carey and more. Tell us about it! What did you learn from them?

When I was writing and piecing songs together, I learned not to overthink things too much. Nile taught me the wonders of a catchy, universal hook—pure feel-good music that gets you dancing on your feet. Dan taught me how to pump energy into my songs by being spontaneous and taking risks. I learned more recording this album than any other project I’ve made.

Do you have a favourite anecdote or moment from making this album?

When I recorded “Just a Dance” with Nile, the studio we were working in had a chef who cooked us absolutely banging food every day. For some reason, it was pretty much all fish-based dishes, and so I asked Nile if he was a pescatarian, to which he replied, “What kinda fuckin’ religion is that?” I can still see his smirk after saying it.

How do you think you can hear that you’ve evolved?

Well, it comes down to constantly experimenting with things I’ve always been curious to try out. I love so many different styles of music and it just happens that I’ve started to mess around with a lot more that I previously didn’t have the confidence or skills to have fun with. I’m growing up and experiencing more things in my life, too. The songs have deeper meanings, and I’m playing better as a musician. The key is to not think too hard about it; just make a hyper-pop song if you want to. The worst thing that could happen is you don’t release it.  ‍

Which song are you most excited for fans to hear?

Beckham—I’m immensely proud of it. It’s a whole new side of me. I think it’s probably a bit of a Marmite song. Some people might not dig it much, but I think others are going to love it.

Who’s on your playlist right now?

I make a playlist every month. So far this month, I’ve got Plaid, Bjork, Lifetones, LA Priest, Mk.Gee, and Fad Gadget spinning. It's shaping up to be a good month.

What’s something that’s important to you right now, something you’re passionate about? Aside from music?

Our world is rapidly heating up. Every year, it’s becoming noticeably more apparent that we’re approaching a catastrophe. Wildfires, multiple towns and villages on the verge of being underwater in a worryingly small amount of years. Politicians blatantly ignore that the children of our children may not have a real future due to our past and present actions. I want to connect the gap between visual entertainment - whether a backdrop to a live show or a music video - and climate crisis awareness. When talking about global warming, you have two options. You can scare people about how deep in the shit we are; where we’re heading. Or you can water things down so the whole world gets a general sense that we have to all make a difference here, that we’re in this together, and we have to be right now. We need to bring as many people together to make a difference, and art has always been at the forefront of change.

What’s next?

Hopefully tour our socks off and keep writing great fun tunes. I think the second half of ‘24 will be exciting as I haven’t played many shows in two years. We’re figuring out where to play and I have lots of ideas. I can’t wait! Thanks for having me, guys.

Listen to Radiosoul HERE.

@alfietempleman