Sydney's Yours Truly drop intense electro alt/punk single 'Hallucinate' (feat. Josh Franceschi from You Me At Six)

Photo by Olli Appleyard

Sydney’s Yours Truly are a shining beacon among the Australian Alternative scene, and with the release of latest single, ‘Hallucinate’ (which features Josh Franceschi from You Me At Six), they usher in the next phase of their career with their upcoming EP, ‘is this what i look like?’.

A video for ‘Hallucinate’ has also been released in conjunction with the single, in all of its hypercoloured, tripped-out glory.

The filtered synth start to ‘Hallucinate’ feels anxiety-inducing, which is reflected in this epic track from Yours Truly. The energy and ferocity that vocalist Mikaila delivers is intense, over the top of a punk beat that is itching to turn in to full blown drum and bass (which it sneakily does for a brief moment at 0:59). The bass is working over-time on this, and with the guitar lines, and underlying synth sirens, there’s an overall feeling of urgency. The second verse, which sees the introduction of guest vocalist Josh Franceschi settles into a contrasting groove, before we’re slammed sideways. Australian alternative rock is in good hands with tracks as powerful as this.

Speaking about the new single Mikaila Delgado explains: “Hallucinate is an anxiety attack turned into music, detailing how it takes over your body so totally that it feels as if you're under the influence of something. I've struggled badly with anxiety and it's debilitating every day to be at war with your own thoughts. It's one of the darkest songs we've ever written but I found a lot of power in pulling out the chaos of how anxiety feels and sounds to me and putting it in a song.”

Ushering in a new era for Yours Truly, the upcoming EP shows a sound culminated from influences the band are listening to - from Bring Me The Horizon, and The 1975, to Bloc Party, and Head Automatica). ‘is this what i look like?’ shifts between electro-thrash, to alt-rock swagger, fearless pop stomping goodness to electronica punk. Originally designed to be a three-track companion to the band’s debut album, ‘Self Care’, it morphed in to the multi-faceted musical beast that will be released on July 15.

The EP was meant to tackle something other than the “sunshine and butterflies” of their debut album, dig deeper, be more true and reflective of the band now. “We spent that whole album telling people everything was going to be alright but the world had clearly taken a turn. Over the past few years, self care has been incredibly difficult,” explains Delgado. “We wanted to explore 'that'.” Is this what i look like? stays true to that goal, but once they got into the studio with their “anything goes” attitude, they realised these songs “felt like a different universe entirely".

Rather than running scared or trying to dial it back, the band decided to jump in, accept these new challenges and make themselves at home. It’s a bold move for a band who, in it for the long haul, wanted to just gradually push things forward on every record. However two years without touring and without being able to get in the practice space together has changed that patient mindset. “Now we just want to write the songs we want to write. Let’s not be afraid. Let’s just be the best band we possibly can.”

While Self Care was inspired by conversations between all four members of the band about their mental health, is this what i look like? saw Delgado isolated, alone and uncertain about her place in the world. “My entire adult life has been Yours Truly.

With that taken away, I was in a bad place. Not being able to perform was depressing,” she explains. She poured that into her writing. Brutal, raw and revealing “all the songs are about coming to terms with who you are and who you want to be.” Yours Truly have always been a band to champion honesty but this EP takes it even further. “I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’ve always been open with things like my health and what I’ve gone through, but I was very aware we live in a world where people use social media to show off idealised versions of their lives. We never want to pretend everything is perfect. This is my dirty laundry,” says Delgado.

“It’s me saying I’m an anxious mess, I don’t know who I am but I’m trying to figure it out.”

After wrapping up 2021 in fine form - sweeping up an ARIA nomination for Best Hard Rock/heavy album for Self Care and supporting Holding Absence on their UK run, Yours Truly have hit the ground running for a huge 2022. With the band having stepped off the stage at UNIFY, finishing supporting Against The Current on their UK tour and Delgado having just supported Slumberjack's Like A Version set, Yours Truly are now geared to play a run of festivals in the remaining months of 2022, including appearances in the UK, Australia, Italy and Sweden.

Yours Truly will be making their way up to the Sunshine Coast later in the year to play Solbar, but in the meantime, you can pre-save the upcoming EP here, and stream the new single, ‘Hallucinate’ now on all digital platforms.