19 year old sensation Alfie Templeman has today shared his acclaimed debut album 'Mellow Moon' on AWAL/V2 Records. Last week, Alfie partnered with Amazon Music and Twitch on ‘Welcome to the Mellow Moon’ - a large-scale virtual world purpose built in the #1 best-selling video game of all time; Minecraft. In the game, Alfie and his band performed songs from the new album live via their bespoke custom Minecraft avatars in true festival style, alongside performances from an exclusive selection of the most exciting artists handpicked by Alfie himself including The Vaccines, Thomas Headon, Everything Everything and the legendary Todd Rundgren.
Only releasing his debut single ‘Like An Animal’ in 2018, Alfie Templeman has, with every thrilling move ever since, now fully cemented his position as the teenage icon of his generation. Combining indie-boy-next-door aesthetics with peerless musicianship - entirely self-taught, he plays no less than eleven instruments (recently taking up the flute) and also contributes heavily with production and co-production duties on 'Mellow Moon' - Alfie pushes boundaries like no other teenager. His love of universe building, both aesthetically and musically, shone through on 2021 debut mini-album 'Forever Isn't Long Enough' and continues to burn effervescently with 'Mellow Moon' and all its accompanying visuals. Fresh, bold, youthful and inventive. Alfie Templeman sees an increasingly grey world in vibrant technicolour.
When Alfie Templeman started to work on his long-awaited debut album in early 2020 he could never have predicted the turbulent path that lay ahead for both him personally and the rest of the world. Two years later and the young prodigy has emerged with 'Mellow Moon'; an album that feels like something of a miracle, landing somewhere between an otherworldly trip and a joy-filled ode to life back on earth. As Alfie, himself, puts it; “It feels like I’m on a different planet. I’ve gone somewhere new and I’m discovering fire for the first time.”
Alfie Templeman began the earliest period of the pandemic shielding due to a respiratory issue first identified in childhood. Having found himself feeling “very low” he sought help and began taking antidepressants as he attempted to deal with his anxiety. Alfie hasn’t spoken much about his mental health in the past but felt that to ignore such a significant moment in his life, finally seeking help for the anxiety he’d contended with his whole life, would be hiding something of himself. “I think people assume that I’m this easy, outgoing person but there’s actually a lot more layers to me and this record shows that,” he says. “Writing songs like ‘Broken’, ‘Take Some Time Away’ and ‘Mellow Moon’ were like therapy. It was me asking ‘What’s wrong with me?’ and ‘How am I going to get better?’ Just figuring things out in real time. I had therapy but there were still things unresolved in my mind. So I turned to music for the answers.”
The result is an easily accessible comfort place. Across 14 tracks Alfie closes his eyes and imagines another world, one where he’s at ease and not distracted by life’s many challenges.
It was only by embracing honesty and moving past the fear of failure that one of the U.K.’s most exciting and distinctive new songwriters could move forwards. “I’m being really open for the first time about where I’m at mentally. Overcoming that felt life changing.” He was also able to call on regular collaborators Tom McFarland (Jungle), Justin Young (The Vaccines), Will Bloomfield, and Rob Milton.
Inspired by modern influences like Steve Lacy, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges, as well as Alfie’s constant cosmic guide Todd Rundgren, 'Mellow Moon' flows with an ease that belies its difficult creation. Acting as both an intimate diary entry and a communal call to arms, 'Mellow Moon' is Alfie’s most complete work to date and a platform from which he will surely use to propel himself further into the stratosphere. If ever proof were needed that music is a salvation or a transportative force, this is it.
Listen to 'Mellow Moon' here now on your favourite digital retailer
