Madison Drew | 01/05/2024

A whole 22 years have passed since Will Young won the original series of ITV's Pop Idol, with fans locking eyes on the singer on smaller (and possibly bulkier) TVs in their living rooms. Old noughties hits like Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dancefloor", Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten", and right now, Nelly Furtado's "Maneater" are being dusted off, having their moments and rapidly growing in huge appreciation on social media. Young finds himself in that group of noughties pop artists in this rediscovery. "It's quite funny to see that. It's quite nice because people have their fixation on the 80s. And then we went through the 90s. So I'm not surprised we've got to where we've got. But it's nice to see." His noughties debut was the fastest-selling debut single of that decade: 'Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen'.  He believes that every single pop artist mainly goes through different stages. Being cool. Not cool. Relevant. Not relevant. He's happy for others from the noughties who are getting love now. "It's nice to see people, particularly someone like Sophie Ellis-Bextor. She's just a really nice person. So it's really nice to see someone like that have a moment because she's a hard worker. It's not always the nice people who get the moment." At HATC, we embrace nostalgia with songs that get some much-needed love and with Will's tracks "Jealousy" or "Who Am I" getting their moment again.

Two decades into his career, which now spans songwriting, acting, activism, and the release of two books, Will Young is still doing things entirely new for him. His new tour is a massive 50 dates all around the UK, reaching all, including intimate venues in Southend, Shrewsbury and a small town in North Devon, Barnstaple also included.

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Will is all about the intimacy of small venues, where he performs in stripped-back intimate gigs with a bit of chat. When asked why this many gigs are in up-close venues: "I think, in many ways, modern life makes things harder to connect with people. To be able to tour is still quite traditional; I mean, people have done AI stuff, but really, it's something that I don't think modern technology will change. I wanted to do smaller venues and more gigs and go to more places that I haven't been able to go to, and also be mindful that I think a lot of the time, people have to travel quite a lot to get to a gig. Because people do them in major cities." Will explains. "I'd done some gigs, just after COVID, which were stripped back, and people could ask questions, and it was delightful. It was a different way. I've never done a gig like that before. I'd always just done an hour and a half, two hours of playing music, a bit of chat, and you're off, and that's fine. But this was a sort of different way of doing it. I remember thinking then that I wanted to do more of these."

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From speaking to many artists about their touring experiences, being on the road and performing nearly every night can be challenging, but as a touring veteran, Will likes the challenge. "I feel like there is a routine because I'm performing every night, which structures my day. My days in music aren't very structured. I like waking up in the morning [on tour], and I think, right. I know I'm doing my job today." he says. Touring and adding regularity to his day-to-day life is Will's kryptonite. "That's what I've learned through a lot of therapy." Young continues "I like parameters. I like regularity. I like to connect with people. But it has to be done safely for me and the younger parts of myself, so I need structure. So, the whole experience is quite grounding for me," alongside the resistance bands he swears by.

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Speaking about day-to-day life as a musician: "When you're self-employed, you can feel guilty that you're never doing enough. And being on tour takes that away. I think well, no, I am doing my job. Today, I am earning a living. And so I deserve to switch off. You don't necessarily switch off if you're self-employed and work from home." In a way, it can often feel traumatic because you think there's that guilt. Feeling I should be doing more. It sounds lovely to work from home and be your boss, but also, with that, it can be pretty isolating and quite lonely each day. It would help if you worked with a team more regularly. You need to get that community. I think that's really important."

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Being on tour is essential to Will when supporting his upcoming album, Light It Up, which is out in August. Light it Up marks his ninth studio album, a huge milestone in itself for any artist. In his process of creating Light it Up, Will found it a lot easier, proudly admitting that those were part of the songwriting process. Having others contribute really benefitted Will's creativity and pushed him to write "quite good songs" for this new album and return to pop bops. "In lockdown I set up my little studio at home where I was working remotely which was fine. But what was nice was to get back with two old friends I've written with for quite a few years and just to hit the ground running. 

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He notes that one of the songs he wrote, "Midnight," is about being in his 40s, being single, and embracing it. Though so relatable, it is something that he has never written about before until now. On what helped his creativity, he believes "it was safety" with his two co-writers whom he's known for over ten years: "I know their kids, I've watched their kids grow up. So I feel very safe with them." he says. "Everyone works differently. But for me, when you've been through stuff and watched those people go through stuff, I think it helps with creativity and makes life easier within work in general. I think people forget about that sometimes. Are you bringing your authentic self? But should you if you don't feel safe?  No, you absolutely shouldn't."