The English punk rock giant Yungblud just set the music scene ablaze once again, with his new single “breakdown.”
Following a particularly tough year, Yungblud wrote “breakdown.” as an absolute anthem, raising awareness towards the importance of mental health. Originally written as a poem, the song might be his most vulnerable and heartfelt release to date. Yungblud partnered with mental health organizations such as Sound Mind Live in the US and Mind in the UK. For every use of the “Breakdown” template on CapCut $1 will be donated to charity.
The song goes deep into the struggle with the own mind and the things we don’t like about ourselves. The crippling weight of depression and the fight to overcome it. It emphasizes the amount of strength it takes to keep going and the importance of doing so, even if we feel like we are going to breakdown.
About writing the song, Yungblud explains,
“I wrote this song because it’s been the hardest year for me mentally. I feel myself chasing and throughout my life I’ve never felt good enough, it’s been the main thing that one the one hand has driven me forward, but on the other, has eaten me up. For as long as I can remember I have felt constantly afraid of how quickly my head can turn dark.
~ Yungblud
After a slow and melodic intro, carried by Yungblud’s vocals and underlined by increasingly intense piano and guitar, the song erupts in a captivating beat. It fuels the experience with high energy, while maintaining the melancholic undertone of the piano, as he sings about fighting the changes and the hardship of persisting in the face of depression.
The most striking part of the song, however, occurs when Yungblud uses his platform to spread pure good and hope to the world. In a particularly powerful rap part, he gives us a hopeful outlook on life, encouraging us to be kind, to support those in need and to talk about our worries and problems to friends, rather than bottling it up. Furthermore, he assures us that we can overcome the depression. However, this description could never do his delivery of the song justice.
Listen to “breakdown.” below for the full experience
Alongside “breakdown.” Yungblud released a full short film written by Chris Bush and starring Dame Harriet Walter. The video starts out with Yungblud leaving the outskirts of a small town and starting to run as soon as he enters the countryside. As he comes to a stop at the edge of a cliff, the song ends and an older woman, played by Walter, asks him if he was running towards, or from something, to which he doesn’t have a clear answer. She invites him into her house after remarking that he ran through her garden.
Back at the house, they have a conversation full of metaphors for breakdowns and the transience of things. For example, the house is standing on the edge of a cliff. A cliff that feels so eternal, yet it is on the verge of breaking down. Even though we are so small in the context of the universe, we are the only thing that gives it meaning through our consciousness. Love is the most important thing in the universe, if we decide that it is.