Alfie Templeman
Retaining the effortless, sunshine-drenched feel of his first record Mellow Moon – which won praise for its breezy creativity from The Guardian, NME, The Line of Best Fit and more – Alfie Templeman’s second album Radiosoul pushes his songcraft further in every direction. From the ambitious, audacious title track, whose laid-back groove evolves into a full-blown jam, complete with spiralling saxophone, there is the immediate sense that this is bigger in magnitude than anything this artist has done in the past. Featuring collaborations with legendary producers including Nile Rodgers and Dan Carey, it’s a fitting leap forward for a mind-bogglingly gifted young musician who, at only 21, can only be described as a bonafide polymath.
From the frenetic funk of ‘Drag‘, to the positively gothic harmonic unease of ‘Submarine‘, Radiosoul pinballs around all of the transition, change and plurality of the end of adolescence. It’s about hating social media, feeling knackered by touring, learning to deal with anxiety and panic attacks, and moving out of your parents’ house – all while you’re also still trying to figure yourself out. The record consistently puts lyrics about feeling as though you’re floundering – “The future tense is too intense,” he sings on ‘Eyes Wide Shut‘ – to sparkling pop backdrops, and it feels to Templeman, therefore, like a document of an artist waking up from limbo.
“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.”
Just turned 21 years old, almost entirely self-taught as a producer and musician (playing eleven instruments) and with over 300,000,000 streams worldwide and touring sold-out dates across the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia & USA during 2022, Alfie Templeman’s global appeal is growing every day.
Closer to home, his rise has been fuelled by the longstanding support of national network BBC Radio 1 (where he has been daytime playlisted five times and has been awarded six consecutive Hottest Records already in his burgeoning career, as well as reaching the A-List with ‘3D Feelings’ and single ‘Colour Me Blue’, which was also a top 5 UK radio charting track), BBC Radio 2 (where ‘Colour Me Blue’ was also A listed), BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, Virgin, Absolute, and Apple Music 1.
Fast becoming a household name, Alfie’s inventive partnerships (hosting one of the first festivals in Minecraft) and appearances on major UK TV slots via Sunday Brunch and Top of the Pops have aided in countless sold-out headline shows (including London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire), and performances at major UK festivals like Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and more.
Alfie has also collaborated with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Todd Rundgren on his recent album Space Force, Dom Valentino, Anna of the North and Boy Pablo’s producer Bob Junior on their recent outputs and co-wrote and produced the worldwide breakout track ‘Dizzy’ by Chloe Moriondo. Fresh, bold, youthful and inventive. Alfie Templeman sees a sometimes grey world in vibrant technicolour.