Idle youth press photo

Camden Town collective Idle Youth are staying productive during lockdown with the release of their seventh single ‘Pompeii’.

Starting out as a lo-fi and surf solo project by Jay (synths and vocals) has turned into a full four-piece band with friends Mick (guitar), Kieran (bass) and Stevie (drums).

Progressing into an electronic post punk and new wave sound, Idle Youth have a completely different feel to their live sound. ‘Pompeii’ represents this transition perfectly, incorporating synthesisers, 80s drum sounds and deep and resonate vocal delivery.

Talking about the song’s meaning, the band added: “‘Pompeii’ describes, in deliberate ambiguity, the sacrifices, tender moments and ultimate outcomes of the relationships we cultivate.”

Originally intended to be a guitar-heavy, psychedelic song, it took an unexpected change indirection thanks to a broken synthesiser in the practice room. The bass lien you now hear “was played on loop by accident,” takes the song into a cyberpunk aesthetic.

Check it out below and leave your ICM Star Rating out of 10.