The last two years have been amazing for Yungblud. Since releasing his debut album, 21st Century Liability, the Doncaster native has gone on be included on the Warped Tour line-up and have collabs with the likes of Halsey, Bring Me The Horizon and Machine Gun Kelly garnering millions of streams online. All the while doing it in his loud, unapologetic way. Now he’s back with his second album, weird!, which we have reviewed here in a track by track summary;
Opening track teresa starts off slow with tranquil piano, like that of a music box. The song depicts a story of the titular-named Teresa, a girl who has been on the receiving end of heartbreak and judgement of others, but no more. As the song progresses and gets louder, as does Yungblud’s promise of protection; “As long as I watch over you, you don’t need to run.” One can interpret this as a promise to his fanbase, a group of misfits, in that he’ll always be there to represent them; never change for anyone or anything.
The following track cotton candy is much more upbeat in comparison. A sweet pop-rock anthem that serves as a metaphor for sexual liberation. A story of sexual freedom, discovering yourself and your sexuality, followed by eventually meeting someone who he wants to stay with, but he cannot find the words for. In a summary, “I want to get stuck between your teeth like cotton candy.”
Now onto the anthem that officially kicked off the weird! era. strawberry lipstick, the catchy rock anthem for finally having the confidence to be who you truly are, it’s a briefly scary time but, wow, is it exciting. You already know it’s going to be a tune once you hear Yungblud proclaim; “This is a song, about the person I love!”, one can only look forward to when shows start up again and we get to experience this live. It’s going to be chaotic and wonderful.
mars, a guitar ballad like that of Sum 41’s Pieces. A story of a transgender girl who he met whose parents wouldn’t accept for who she is, but after bringing them to his show they became more open-minded. This is a song featuring elements that most young people can understand; feeling unwanted, irrelevant, misunderstood and wanting to get away from everything. And a David Bowie reference; “Is there any life on Mars?” A beautiful track.
Now back to being loud and distorted with superdeadfriends. An angry track that comments on parents who won’t accept their children as themselves. They try to control them and mould them into who they aren’t. And what are the consequences? “Super dead kids with super dead friends.”
An album wouldn’t be complete without an acoustic guitar love ballad. love song is a bittersweet track that tells the typical story of someone who has both witnessed and experienced heartbreak with all the consequences that follow. All the pain and turmoil that you go through almost makes it not worth it…until you meet that someone; “Sweetheart, you are, Changing my mind.” And it changes everything. You now believe you are worthy of love, it’s scary but amazing; “Nobody taught me how to love mysеlf, So how can I love somebody else? I'm so new to this, I swear that I'm doing my best.”
god save me, but don’t drown me out has a vibe similar to that of The 1975. Maybe it’s the opening guitar track, Yungblud’s vocals almost like that of Matty Healy, or maybe it’s the lyrical content of insecurities, wanting to feel something but refusing to let your mistakes define you; “And I won't let my insecurities define who I am, I am, Not gonna waste my life 'cause I've been fucked up, 'Cause it doesn't matter.” Hey, it’s not a bad thing! Just stating how it is.
ice cream man starts off with a rather creepy rendition of an ice cream van jingle before going straight into a catchy pop-rock beat, like that of DNCE’s Cake By The Ocean. On the surface it seems like a rather silly track but once digging further (or scooping in…sorry) you find it’s a metaphor for hiding away from the world and feeling anxious that everyone secretly hates you; “I'm sitting on my own again, Wondering what all my friends did last night, They think that I hate them, Because I haven't sent 'em a text in two days.” That hits too close home, Dom.
Released all the way back in April during the height of the pandemic and lockdown, weird! was released by Yungblud as a little beam of hope for fans as the world around them seemed strange and unfamiliar. An upbeat track about the current uncertainty of the world that guarantees to uplift you with a promise that things will get better, just hold on; “Don't wreck your brain, it'll be alright, We're in a weird time of life.”
charity, a track similar to that of The Fratellies’ Chelsea Dagger whilst throwing in a reference to The Clash’s Lost In The Supermarket. What more could you want? A song telling the same old story of parents telling you how you should present yourself to the world but refusing to listen. “Tonight, my mother said that I, Should never go outside, That I should run and hide, Donate my brains to charity, I, I'd rather go blind.” You’re your own person and you should be able to live and learn in your own way.
Machine Gun Kelly returns for a second collab with acting like that. Originally meant to be released on MGK’s Tickets To My Downfall, which explains the early 2000s pop-punk sound, it was removed for an unknown reason and instead put on weird!. A catchy song with references to their previous collab, I Think I’m OKAY, tells the story of watching a girl mess around and make mistakes, you know that they’re better than this and deserve more. Not the most unique song of the album but it’s still fun.
Another bittersweet acoustic ballad, it’s quiet in beverly hills tells the story of Yungblud travelling to LA to record music. Once a place of excitement and dreams, we now see a shift in attitude where he discovers the dark side of the music industry, the entertainment industry in general. A commentary of watching others seeming to succeed but are mostly pretending that things are ok when they’re not. But despite the sadness, Yungblud makes a promise to his fanbase; “I'll love you all of my life, Until you close your eyes for good.”
The concluding track, the freak show, goes between a horror-mixed circus soundtrack to a dramatic rock sound that draws you in. The song appears to be critique of society in terms of how people will laugh at and attack anything and everyone who is different. They’ll do everything to change you. But suddenly as soon as it’s cool and trendy to act this way suddenly they’re doing it too and pretending that liked it all along. We all know someone like this. But overall, don’t let anyone change you, be yourself, we are all unique; “welcome to the freak show.”
So, what have we learnt from weird!? Be yourself, don’t let anyone change you, and most of all, learn not to give a shit. Yungblud set the expectations high with his debut album so there was always a worry that he may not live up to it, but wow did he deliver. Not only is it loud and out there, it shows personal growth; acknowledging the hardships of world, accepting that not everything is going be easy, but we’ll make it, we’ll get there in the end. A strong message to end on.
