u.n.l.o.v.e.d

This one is going to be short because, if you've listened to the lyrics, it probably doesn't require a lot of explanation. But there is a completely random story behind how it came about.

The date was 24th December 2024.

And, rather ironically, I was not writing songs with sleigh bells, talking about what I wanted for Christmas or desperately trying to make Mariah Carey level royalties.

I had this bass line and beat that I really liked. It was funky, a little bit dark, and a foot-tapper. The problem was that I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the melody should be or what I was actually going to talk about.

So, I was driving to my parents' house on Christmas Eve, listening to this instrumental on a loop. And on that journey, I went on a whole other journey of my own.

I came up with what felt like thousands of melody ideas.

None of them stuck.

I was getting to the point where I thought I might just have to throw the song away, so I decided to give myself a little break from trying to force something to happen. I left it playing because I was just enjoying the song.

I started looking around at the road and, for some completely random reason, I began saying the number plates of the cars driving past me - because I was bored I guess…

And for anyone outside the UK, our number plates are seven characters long.

One of the number plates I read out happened to land perfectly in time with the beat coming through my car speakers. Not only did the rhythm fit, but it landed perfectly with the melody I was hearing in my head.

I stopped and thought, hang on... this could actually be something.

So I started trying loads of different seven-letter words.

And eventually I landed on U N L O V E D.

Instantly, I knew that was the one.

Which is interesting, because just saying the word ‘unloved’ doesn’t quite hit my ear right. It doesn't exactly make you think, yeah, this is going to be a funky little tune.

But somehow, it worked.

From there, I started building this whole world around the idea that being single doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing.

At the time, I was actually struggling with being single. I think there was a part of me that was putting pressure on myself to find someone.

But as I started writing, I began looking at it differently.

I'm not stressing about trying to impress someone.

I've got a nice little routine that works for me.

I've got good things going on in my life.

And, most importantly, I don't have to worry about getting my heart broken if things go wrong.

And there was something quite liberating about that.

So the lyrics just started forming around this idea of embracing your own routine and being completely comfortable with yourself.

• See the lyrics

  This will not be the last time

  That I feel lucid in my mind

  Yeah you have gone to move to the next one

  Our history it has come undone

  I'm free to feel how I want to feel

  No need to make it a last appeal nah

  U n l o v e d

  They don't get to hypnotise me

  Got a new routine that's all I need

  Eat sleep repeat it

  No heart defeated

  This will not be the last time

  I reach the peak of mountains I climb

  The weight off my back feels like I've lost a tonne

  See I can be great I don't need anyone, nobody

I think this was also another one of those songs where, while I was making it, there were moments where I thought:

This is NAFF!

I wasn't sure whether I'd gone too far with the idea and if it’d be cringe.

But then I'd listen back to it and there was just something about the groove that kept pulling me back.

And that's still how I feel about it now.

It was actually supposed to be on the Reinventing Tomorrow EP instead of the All In My Head EP, but I wasn’t that confident with it during the time I was putting together Reinventing Tomorrow. But I think that was actually a good thing because I feel it fits the vibe of All In My Head better.

So in summary, the story behind it might have started with me randomly shouting car number plates in the car by myself on Christmas Eve.

And the song itself might have come from me trying to convince myself that being single was actually a good thing.

But I am quite glad I didn't throw it away.