Alfie Templeman Debuts “Leaving Today”

Alfie Templeman drops new single "Leaving Today"

Alfie Templeman will release his debut album, Mellow Moon, on May 27 via Chess Club Records/AWAL. Today he shares the album’s “Leaving Today” which was co-produced with Tom McFarland (Jungle) and notes “‘Leaving Today’ was written about what it would be like to go on tour again after so long. Getting far away from home and sitting in that van for hours thinking about all the small things you never realised you missed so much. It’s the first song I’ve played Cello on, I tried to layer up multiple different parts as if it was a mini orchestra of terrible cello players! Tom was super encouraging with the Cello stuff, and he added some really gorgeous production, all the oohs you hear at the start are him.”

When Alfie Templeman started to work on his long-awaited debut album in early 2020 he could never have predicted the turbulent path that lay ahead for both him personally and the rest of the world. Two years later he emerged with Mellow Moon; an album that feels like something of a miracle, landing somewhere between an otherworldly trip and a joy-filled ode to life back on earth. As Alfie, himself, puts it; “It feels like I’m on a different planet. I’ve gone somewhere new and I’m discovering fire for the first time.”

Alfie Templeman began the earliest period of the pandemic shielding due to a respiratory issue first identified in childhood. Having found himself feeling “very low” he sought help and began taking antidepressants as he attempted to deal with his anxiety. Alfie hasn’t spoken much about his mental health in the past but felt that to ignore such a significant moment in his life, finally seeking help for the anxiety he’d contended with his whole life, would be hiding something of himself. “I think people assume that I’m this easy, outgoing person but there’s actually a lot more layers to me and this record shows that,” he says. “Writing songs like ‘Broken’, ‘Take Some Time Away’ and ‘Mellow Moon’ were like therapy. It was me asking ‘What’s wrong with me?’ and ‘How am I going to get better?’ Just figuring things out in real time. I had therapy but there were still things unresolved in my mind. So I turned to music for the answers.”

It was only by embracing honesty and moving past the fear of failure that one of the U.K.’s most exciting and distinctive new songwriters could move forwards. “I’m being really open for the first time about where I’m at mentally. Overcoming that felt life changing.” He was also able to call on regular collaborators Tom McFarland (Jungle), Justin Young (The Vaccines), Will Bloomfield, and Rob Milton.

Inspired by modern influences like Steve Lacy, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges, as well as Alfie’s constant cosmic guide Todd Rundgren, Mellow Moon flows with an ease that belies its difficult creation. Acting as both an intimate diary entry and a communal call to arms, Mellow Moon is Alfie’s most complete work to date and a platform from which he will surely use to propel himself further into the stratosphere. If ever proof were needed that music is a salvation or a transportative force, this is it.

Alfie Templeman
Mello Moon
tracklisting

1. A Western
2. You’re A Liar
3. Broken
4. Folding Mountains
5. 3D Feelings
6. Candyfloss
7. Best Feeling
8. Do It
9. Colour Me Blue
10. Galaxy
11. Leaving Today
12. Take Some Time Away
13. Mellow Moon
14. Just Below The Above

Alfie Templeman 2022 Tour Dates