Alfie Templeman

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 20, 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 feel like even though I’m terrible at talking about my feelings, music makes it easier.”