Bad With Phones, the Deptford frontman, guitarist and songwriter takes the wheel and steers us into a bliss-soaked tailspin with his new single
‘drive.’ which is out now on
Don’t Sleep. Bad With Phones also announces the release of his new album
‘CRASH’ on 12th July which will be accompanied by an
album launch event on Friday July 5th at 7pm, where he will perform songs from the album live for the first time as well as DJ, alongside Dean Bryce from Don’t Sleep the label and soundsystem.
Bad With Phones, aka Manny, has conjured up an inspired slice of synth-pop meets indie-electro with ‘drive.’ A proper bop, a gnarly love song backed by that distinctive electric guitar and synth that belongs to after-hours dancefloors. The ‘drive’ single artwork features a jeep, destroyed, on a volcanic landscape, a real-life car crash that Manny walked away from unscathed. The tongue in cheek visualiser here features Manny playfully driving an open top with a lady friend on the open road.
‘drive’ is the next single taken from ‘CRASH’ the debut album from Bad With Phones, which drops 12th July. He comes complete with pink wig and shades for this latest iteration, evolving from his ‘Marinade’ mixtape era and underground hits ‘ ON1’ (with over 1.6million streams), ‘Refrigerator’ , and Monica.
‘CRASH’ is a collection of 10 songs that take us on Bad With Phones’ shroomified journey of highs, lows and ultimate redemption in what he describes as ‘my sonic therapy session’. ‘CRASH’ is packed with intimate anthems, love songs and comedown soothers for the day after a mangled night and to quote an album lyric will ‘come Triple XL with the vibes’.
With standout tracks like ‘DennisRodman’, a warm-up track which dropped in mid February, followed by 2nd single ‘Don’t Talk To Me’, an infectious weirdo-pop tune which received critical acclaim and repeated spins on BBC Radio 6 Music from Don Letts, Amy Lamé, Huw Stephens and Deb Grant among others. Other ‘CRASH’ album highlights include the low key hypnogogic bop of psychedelic spoken word ‘Devils’, the warped, tweaked out insomniac fuelled ‘Emmanuelle’ and the psychedelic blissful, exhilarating, yet intimate spoken word of ‘TICKET’ to take the listener home.
Bad With Phones’ name was born out of Manny’s 6 month phone-free social experiment. Following the debut EP ‘Bang Bang Chicken’ in 2018, he was hailed as one to watch in 2021 on the release of his mixtape ‘Marinade’. Another few singles and an EP ‘Living & Surfing & Remixing’ followed in 2022, but a near death experience explains the two year hiatus. The ‘CRASH’ album cover is also the back cover of the vinyl and features the crashed hired jeep, which tells the story of Manny’s real life car crash. Frazzled and needing a break after releasing music and signing to Don’t Sleep, instead of seeing family in Togo, Manny flew to Lanzarote with a girlfriend. But once on the island, there was a devastating car crash, from which they both miraculously emerged from unhurt.
Manny says “Ever felt like you wanted to own the karaoke booth you and your friends rented out and sing something passionate to them? Then this ballad is for you. ‘drive.’ is a romantic song about someone trying to be romantic but come off a bit crazy and delusional in the pursuit of love. Love is the law under will and sometimes our desire for something can push us to a place of undermining love. I wrote this track in Berlin with my friend Cassie. Berlin is a place that inspires my songwriting and art. The visuals are a representation of the real crash I had, but it’s also a metaphor for choosing love through the good and the bad.”
Brixton label Don’t Sleep celebrates its 5th anniversary with the label’s first album releases this year. Bad With Phones’ album ‘CRASH’ embodies how the label family works and what they care about – artists who expand the culture and push it forward.
‘CRASH’ Tracklisting:
