Soaring off the back of January’s sublime pop banger ‘Champagne Butterflies’, I caught up with the Irish indie pop sensations Wild Youth as they prepare for a big 2021.
Tomorrow (March 12th) the quartet will be dropping their next single ‘Can’t Say No;’ a razor sharp anthem with gritty, hypnotic rhythms.
Wild Youth confidently call out an unfaithful partner, or simply put “about being fucked over by someone”. It’s another example of their capacity to evolve and break down the genre barriers because after all, 2020 was kind of the death of genres.
On recording ‘Can’t Say No’, the band said it was quite invigorating to work on. They commented: “We really tried to capture a lot of live energy in this record. Which was really refreshing and fun to make.”
The contrast between the floor-shaking bass and the euphoric pop hooks create a track so immense, whilst simultaneously encapsulating their down-to-earth, homegrown nature and lyrical vulnerability.
Whilst they have been watching movies and getting into art, Wild Youth have a forthcoming EP ‘Forever Girl’ due March 26th. Lockdown has meant a lot more Zoom calls, the band joked, as they continue to push forward and capitalise on their already-impressive catalogue of catchy pop tunes.
“We really tried to capture a lot of live energy in this record. Which was really refreshing and fun to make.”
Wild Youth
David Whelan, Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam all have the innate ability to formulate credible pop tunes which have been played over 10 million times on Spotify alone. This growth in popularity ultimately also means more opportunities to travel for shows and festivals. But thanks to Brexit, a spanner could be thrown into the works and makes things a lot harder for Irish artists and musicians to travel to the UK.
A law called the Common Travel Area (CTA) agreement is currently in place to allow easy travel between the two islands. Both governments have said they are committed to keeping this in place, but anything could happen.
For WIld Youth they cooly said: “It will make things harder. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen.”
“We miss it so much,” said the band when it comes to live music returning. At the time of speaking with the band, the government hadn’t laid out its road plan for some normality to return. However, with June 21st as they date in everyone’s diaries, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s such a huge part of who we are as a band and it’s where we feel most comfortable. We can’t wait to play shows again,” they added.
With the EP on the way, I asked the question about a debut album. Gradually building up to the all-important release, the band said it’s “something we are definitely thinking about in the not so distant future”.
Whilst leaving listeners craving for more with every release, Wild Youth have continued to consistently build a solid fan base through unforgettably catchy choruses and an ear for hits.
With their new Forever Girl EP still to look forward to, ‘Can’t Say No’ is sure to continue Wild Youth’s captivation of audiences across the globe.
Pre-Save the single on all streaming services here. Check out the music video for ‘Next To You below.
