Sold out “Light It Up Live Tour 2024” kicks off in September

9 August 2024: Multi-award-winning British pop star and actor Will Young is back with his ninth studio album “Light It Up” - out now via BMG. Listen HERE and buy here: https://amzn.to/3AlpqDi

Will is playing a series of Album Launch Shows in London (9 August), Southampton (10 August), Leeds (11 August) and Liverpool (12 August) - tickets are available here:

The 10-track collection is the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s first album of originals in five years, featuring the moving new single ‘The Worst’.

To celebrate the new album, Will is embarking on his most intimate tour yet. The sold-out “Light It Up Live 2024 Tour” is an up close and personal evening of acoustic performances of all his hits and new songs, stories and conversation. The tour kicks off on 3 September - for a full list of dates, visit here.

“Light It Up” is a shimmering return to form for one of Britain’s best-loved and steadfast pop singer-songwriters of the 2000s. The new body of work captures the musical richness of 70s and 80s soulful pop with a modern twist. A testament to Will’s magnetic vocals and storytelling prowess, each song - whether designed for escapism or reflection - feels perfectly-tailored to soundtrack a moment.

Will Young said: I really hope this is the go-to pop album for a dance, for a cry and for a celebration. I know I do all three with it. It is just so exciting to produce a complete pop album. Crafting pop music can be so fun and the challenge to sing those songs is something I’ve relished.”

Young has teamed up with renowned Scandinavian hitmakers PhD (who has worked with Kylie and Little Mix), and reunited with Andy Cato of Groove Armada, and long-term writing partners Jim and Mima Elliott (worked on Will’s defining album, “Echoes”).

The euphoric lead single ‘Falling Deep’ (BBC Radio 2’s Record of The Week) sets the tone for the 80s pop inspiration that colours the album. Punchy synth-pop numbers like ‘Talk About It’, which Will wrote with Jim and Mima Elliott, and ‘Feels Just Like A Win’ bring confessional lyrics to the dance floor.

‘The Worst’ is an introspective song that stands tall next to Young’s evergreen classic ‘Leave Right Now’ as one of his best ballads yet. It is produced by PhD, who co-wrote the track with Celine Svanbäck (Dagny) and Sam Merrifield (Mimi Webb).

The intimate and acoustic arrangement illuminates every relatable lyric that portrays an overthinker terrified of opening up to the possibility of new love in fear of being hurt again. Young sings, “I hate not knowing how the hell it’s gonna end. What if you’re the worst? What if this could hurt? Maybe I should self-sabotage as for nothing, cutting you off when I start feeling something”.

A theme that appears to underscore the album is the joys and complexities of life in your 40s. The anthemic title track ‘Light It Up’ (BBC Radio 2 A-List) is a life-affirming call to celebrate your individuality and to never let the world diminish your true self. Over a sumptuous, soulful 70s pop production; Will sings: “Light it up, and let them know it. You’re too loud to be quiet, too bright now to stop glowing… don’t waste who you are.”

On the wistful electronic pop track ‘Midnight’, we get a glint of Young’s humour in the tongue-in-cheek lyrics. “Texting every ex, trying to get my fix. Why does no-one tell me that they are married?”

The album closes with a reimagination of 80s hit ‘I Won't Let You Down’, co-produced by Andy Cato. Showcasing Will’s uncanny ability to breathe new life into a song, the new arrangement, with its transcendent electric guitar solo and spacious rhythmic beat, is the perfect soundtrack to drift away into the sunset.

“Light It Up” album tracklisting

Falling Deep
Light It Up
Feels Just Like A Win
Midnight
Me Without You
The Worst
No Man’s Land
Talk About It
Everything But You
I Won’t Let You Down