After the chart-topping and arena-headlining success of The Wanted and a further billion streams for his solo career to date, Nathan Sykes is now set to release his long-awaited second solo set ‘Ultraviolet’ on October 17th – the follow-up to 2016’s Silver-certified ‘Unfinished Business’. He launches the album by sharing the brand new single ‘Getting Lost’. Nathan’sresurgence started earlier this year when he released ‘Pieces of Me’ and played a London show at Omeara that sold-out in just 5 minutes. Listen HERE.
‘Ultraviolet’ is a record that has been long in the making. Nathan started the record in 2017 going into early 2018, but the project was put on hold following his bandmate Tom Parker’s illness. Instead, The Wanted reunited to celebrate everything they had achieved together, returning to the Top 10 with ‘Most Wanted: The Greatest Hits’ and completing an emotionally charged UK arena tour – a reunion which Nathan described as “the greatest pleasure of my life.” After Tom’s tragic passing, The Wanted topped the Singles Sales Chart with a new tribute version of ‘Gold Forever’.
Eventually Nathan returned to work on a second solo album. It had been eight years since his debut and so much had happened in that time: not only the bittersweet time back with his brothers in The Wanted, but also all of the other highs and lows that come throughout your twenty-something years, and now soon to be married – the wedding being just before ‘Ultraviolet’ is released. All of those things inspired a new wave of songwriting, in which the honesty and vulnerability of sharing who he really is became a recurring theme.
Nathan says, “‘Ultraviolet’ represents a new chapter in my journey, and I truly believe it’s the best work I’ve ever created. For the first time, I’ve been able to strip away all outside influences and expectations to embrace who I am as an artist. I believe that when I’ve been writing this album I’ve been at my most authentic and creatively free, and every track feels like a piece of me. I couldn’t be prouder of the journey to releasing this album, as it’s the truest version of myself I’ve ever been able to share. I hope everyone who listens to ‘Ultraviolet’ will approach this album with an open mind, as I look forward to sharing the full album with them later in the year.”
The new single ‘Getting Lost’ is a serotonin shot of summery pop, with Nathan’s naturally appealing voice heightening its breezy, blissful atmosphere. While some of the album’s lyrics tackle tougher emotions, ‘Getting Lost’ captures the euphoric rush of finding a new love – and that makes it a perfect mid-summer single.
He adds, “‘Getting Lost’ is inspired by the feeling when you’re falling for someone and your brain just … goes places! It’s about embracing the overthinking chaos that happens when love makes your imagination go into overdrive. There’s something so wonderful about letting your mind wander like that, and I wanted to capture that feeling in this track. Musically, I wanted this to feel like summer. I’ve loved making this song feel so carefree and easy to sing along to, with loads of different hooks for everyone to enjoy.”
Every song on the ‘Ultraviolet’ album was written or co-written by Nathan Sykes. His collaborators include producer Tobie Tripp (George Ezra, Tom Grennan) and co-writers David Sneddon (Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi) and Theo Hutchcraft (Calvin Harris, Måneskin), while one track was produced and co-written by Anu Pillai (Lewis Capaldi, Declan J Donovan). The album was mixed by Steve Fitzmaurice (Sam Smith).
‘Ultraviolet’ is now available to pre-order / pre-save HERE. It will be released on purple, vinyl, picture disc vinyl, CD and cassette plus digital/download formats.
Nathan recently announced details of upcoming headline shows in Manchester and London. Tickets for the shows are available HERE.
OCTOBER
29th – Manchester, Deaf Institute
30th – London, O2 Academy Islington
