Alfie Templeman Releases New Single ‘Obvious Guy’ From Upcoming EP Happiness In Liquid Form
July 3, 2020
17 year old rising star Alfie Templeman has today shared ‘Obvious Guy’, the latest single from his upcoming EP Happiness In Liquid Form – out 17 July on Chess Club Records. Fresh from landing on the BBC Radio 1 playlist for three weeks with the EP’s title-track and being crowned The Observer’s One to watch in May, Templeman returned last night with a second consecutive Hottest Record in the World bestowed by BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac. He subsequently trended in the UK on Twitter with the hashtag #selfieforobviousguy. With a limited quantity of EP vinyl, preorders sold out within minutes and a second pressing is now in the works ahead of full release on 17 July.
‘Obvious Guy’ was co-written with Nick Hodgson (former Kaiser Chief and production collaborator with Mark Ronson and others) and follows Templeman’s writing with Justin Young (The Vaccines) on ‘Happiness In Liquid Form’ – a single which was supported heavily by Annie Mac, longtime champion Jack Saunders as well as Clara Amfo and Nick Grimshaw all on Radio 1. Further spins from Radio X’s John Kennedy resulted in a Record Of The Week at the station, picking up airplay from the likes of Chris Moyles and Toby Tarrant along the way. BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins was also a key supporter of the song and it was also added to rotation internationally at Australia’s triple j, Austria’s FM4, Belgium’s Studio Brussels, The Netherlands’ 3FM, Poland’s Radio 4, Spain’s Icat FM, and Germany’s Flux FM and Ego Fm. ‘Happiness In Liquid Form’ hit number 1 in the Germany College Airplay Charts and peaked at #3 in the Music Moves Europe Airplay Chart with further support from RNE Radio 3 (ES), RTE 2FM (IE), NPO Radio 1 & 2 (NL), and P3 (SE).
Of ‘Obvious Guy’ Alfie says “I really love funk music and have always wanted to venture into it more and more with my own music – so it was great fun doing exactly that with the amazing Nick Hodgson! It came together extremely quickly and everything is super tight.” He adds of the charming animated accompanying video by Cotton Studios and Jake Huffcutt, “I love the ‘Obvious Guy’ vídeo because it’s so colourful and sums up the track perfectly. It shows the whole vibe of feeling unwanted until you find the right people in life.”
Happiness In Liquid Form will follow Alfie Templeman’s trio of rapturously received EP’s – 2018’s Like An Animal, and 2019’s Sunday Morning Cereal and Don’t Go Wasting Time – to date. All of which introduced the world to a prodigiously talented young musician, songwriter, producer and performer. The Bedfordshire-born teen has enjoyed a meteoric rise and cemented his place as one of U.K. indie’s brightest lights with support from Radio 1 (a C-List playlist add, multiple Tunes of the Week, Indie House Party co-host, Maida Vale session, BBC Introducing Track of the Week), BBC Radio 6 Music (airplay from Steve Lamacq, Shaun Keaveny, Chris Hawkins, and a live session during Independent Venue Week), Radio X (Record Of The Week, Phone Cover, 2020 Great X-Pectations), Beats 1, and more.
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With an impressive 100k Instagram followers since his first post in 2019, Templeman has come a long way since the release of debut track ‘Like An Animal’. He was handpicked by Apple from a global shortlist of rising artists to front their #shotoniphone campaign last year – the music video has now amassed 2.5 million views – and was chosen by YouTube Music to be a worldwide ‘Foundry Artist’ in 2020, following in the footsteps of artists such as Dua Lipa and Rosalia, featuring on 90 foot billboards in Times Square in NYC and Central LA. In February this year, Templeman was H&M Artist of the Month in the UK, with accompanying store visuals and playlist support. Alfie Templeman made his headline bow in January this year at Colours Hoxton, selling-out the venue weeks in advance and performing to an adoring, rowdy young audience. Templeman also toured the U.K. with Sports Team on their sold-out run of shows in November and December 2019 and likewise with Inhaler in Manchester and London and Nilufer Yanya in Dublin.
Templeman, who began playing drums at just seven years-old and taught himself guitar, bass and production aged 13, has drawn praise from tastemakers, not only at radio, but at national press level (including The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Observer), earning himself a place in annual ones to watch polls everywhere from NME to British Vogue. With his GCSEs now over and high school already a distant memory, Templeman can focus fully on touring his raucous live show and honing his craft as a stellar young songwriting talent and cementing his reputation as a genuinely thrilling emerging artist and a true one to watch. The Happiness In Liquid Form EP is the exhilarating next chapter in the story of an artist who is truly only just getting started.