YUNG LEAN
shares new album
‘STARZ’

BUY/STREAM HERE

+ Announces new music video
‘MY AGENDA’

Out Now
via YEAR0001

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Last week, Yung Lean shared his seventh album, Starz, out via YEAR0001. The latest full-length arrives as the successor to 2018’s Poison Ivy and includes previously released singles “Boylife in EU”, “Violence” and “Pikachu”.

Starz arrives in the throws of its namesake stardom, where Lean has already proven himself to be incredibly dextrous, despite hardly containing such range within the same project. Branching off from the dragged-out shoegaze of lead single, “Boylife in EU” — early inspiration for Starz came from time spent in a Lisbon studio with Jack Donoghue of SALEM. The album’s 16 tracks twist from full-throated rap in “Hellraiser”, to a romantic, fractured trance in “Butterfly Paralyzed” and even an expansive piano ballad in “Put Me In A Spell”. At times it sounds soft as “Dogboy” comes around, other times horrifying in “My Agenda”. The one guest artist is, naturally, a curveball; the title track featuring the unorthodox indie rocker Ariel Pink.

“A lot of people are like, ‘It started as a meme and became something serious,'” Lean said recently, after receiving the Bram Stoker Medal of Cultural Achievement at Trinity College. “But for me, it’s always been sincere. I’ve been the same person. It’s just people didn’t get it at first.”

Much like Lean’s overall catalogue, Starz is almost impossibly cohesive. In part, that’s thanks to production entirely from longtime collaborator whitearmor, who kept the sessions intimate and secluded, recording partly in an old ballet hall in the Swedish countryside. An album only Lean could make, the young veteran has developed both a sound and career that’s well-entrenched globally but still doggedly, in its own universe.

Alongside the album release, Yung Lean shared a new visual for Starz opening track, “My Agenda” on Friday, May 15 at 5pm AEST. The music video was directed by Paris-based artistic team and frequent Yung Lean collaborators, Suzie & Leo, featuring French actor Christa Théret who explores a never-ending exquisite corpse, a nightmare where Yung Lean faces his greatest fear over and over – himself. Shot late 2019 in Normandy, France near Etretat’s famous cliffs, “My Agenda” is the most recent visual achievement from Yung Lean, following his innovative performance from the back of a truck in April and videos for “Boylife in EU,” and “Violence” + “Pikachu” earlier this year.

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Since his first upload “Ginseng Strip 2002” exploded onto the internet in 2013, novelty has long given way to sustained depth, relentless creative ambition, and real complexity as Lean strode to international popularity, seemingly overnight. Lean has continued to outdo his success with each release, morphing between airy humour to suffocating paranoia, scuzzy punk sound and more across studio albums (Unknown Memory, Warlord & Stranger), mixtapes (Unknown Death 2002, Frost God and Poison Ivy) and countless one-off singles. His most recent full-length, 2019’s Nectar, was easily his most far-out and found a new type of freedom with poetic art rock, drawing comparisons to Bob Dylan and Beck. The album also landed within days of a more straightforward Lean rap single produced by Working On Dying (Lil Uzi Vert, Drake), a rare gem sharing new and unexpected facets to his evolving artistry.

Little over 6 years since the inception of Yung Lean, his diversity and resourcefulness has given rise to a variety of side projects and collaborations. From alt-pop solo project JL96, post-rock experiment Död Mark (together with his day-one producer Gud), writing credits on Frank Ocean’s Blonde, a Calvin Klein modelling assignment, a signature shoe with Converse and his own clothing brand Sadboys Gear. In perhaps his most unanticipated venture, Lean has also collaborated on an award-winning ballet.

Beloved across the world for his ahead-of-the-curve sound and boundary pushing creativity, Starz yet again showcases Yung Lean’s ability to meld an impeccably diverse tracklist into one pristinely cohesive body of work. Step into the Sad Boys universe today and press play on Starz.

STARZ IS OUT NOW VIA YEAR001
BUY/STREAM HERE

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STARZ
TRACKLIST

1. My Agenda
2. Yayo
3. Boylife in EU
4. Violence
5. Outta My Head
6. Dance in the Dark
7. Acid at 7/11
8. Starz ft. Ariel Pink
9. Hellraiser
10. Butterfly Paralyzed
11. Dogboy
12. Iceheart
13. Pikachu
14. Low
15. Sunset Sunrise
16. Put Me In A Spell

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Follow YUNG LEAN
FACEBOOK – INSTAGRAM
SPOTIFY – APPLE MUSIC

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AMNPLIFY – DB