On 7 February 2023, Slowthai released the song "Feel Good". [6] In a statement, Slowthai revealed that he "wanted to emulate the brotherhood ethos that bands have". In an interview with The Fader, Slowthai discussed how this is his most personal album yet and the new direction he has taken sonically. In another interview with Apple Music after the release of the album, he stated the following: "delving into this gave me that freedom again, I felt inspired. I wanted to do something new and challenge myself, rather than just doing what's expected of me." [7] Smith, Thomas (2 March 2023). "Slowthai – 'UGLY' review: the agony and the ecstasy". NME . Retrieved 6 March 2023. Brodsky, Rachel (7 February 2023). "Slowthai Shares New Song "Feel Good": Listen". Stereogum . Retrieved 8 March 2023.

Slowthai recalls playing his new album for Frank Ocean on the Fader interview". The Fader. 3 March 2023 . Retrieved 3 March 2023.The first album was the sound of where I’m from and everything I thought I knew,” he says. “The second album is what was relevant to me at that moment in time, the present. And this album is completely me — about how I feel and what I want to be… it’s everything I’ve been leading up to.” Pappis, Konstantinos (2 March 2023). "Album Review: Slowthai, UGLY". Our Culture . Retrieved 3 March 2023. Slowthai: UGLY Review - artistic freedom regained | Rap". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 6 March 2023. Fontaines D.C. and I went to Dan’s and wrote loads of stuff, but this song was the main focus. They came in after I’d done a scratch vocal, but from that I just wrote my bit and we done it, man. It was easy. We went for a Guinness after and had a laugh: we didn’t think about it too much! My friendship with Fontaines started at the Mercury Prize ceremony in 2019: Grian came over and gave me a poem he’d written for me, which was a special moment. Ever since, they’ve been men after my own heart. Every time I’m around them, I feel like family: we’re from the same way of thinking, the same headspace, and it’s like a brotherhood. I just connect with them, man.

Schube, Will (3 March 2023). "Listen To Slowthai's Shape-Shifting New Album 'UGLY' ". uDiscover Music . Retrieved 11 March 2023. The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 13 March 2023". The ARIA Report. No.1723. Australian Recording Industry Association. 13 March 2023. p.6.Petridis, Alexis (2 March 2023). "Slowthai: Ugly review – the unravelling psyche of a true British great". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 6 March 2023. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Listening through the record, it would seem that this ethos has been the directive for every member of the band and Speedy Wunderground producer Dan Carey who sits behind the mixing desk as Slowthai spins the wheel on which genre he’ll land on next. The latter is clearly a huge benefit to Frampton in defining these moves across the musical map. Not only has he reduced the need for Slowthai’s mic to be endlessly drenched in the spittle of a man trying to make a mountain out of a molehill – showing him that subtlety can have just as hefty an impact – he’s also tempered the production into something far more cultured. os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 10 March 2023 . Retrieved 10 March 2023. Ugly comes after Slowthai's critically acclaimed 2021 album, Tyron. On 25 January 2023, Slowthai released the song "Selfish", and revealed the album's title that same day. [5]

Milross, Hayley (28 February 2023). "slowthai – 'Ugly' ". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 6 March 2023. French-Morris, Kate; Woods, Cat; Harrison, Emma; Johnston, Kathleen (3 March 2023). "Punk star Slowthai provides a breath of fresh air from self-help platitudes – the week's best albums". The Telegraph . Retrieved 6 March 2023. a b Brown, Helen (3 March 2023). "Slowthai, UGLY review: Northampton rapper barrels toward self-revelation in thrilling, grimey fashion". The Independent . Retrieved 6 March 2023. Smyth, David (3 March 2023). "Slowthai: Ugly album review – it might lose him fans but the honesty is breathtaking". Evening Standard.verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{

Jayasuriya, Mehan (8 March 2023). "Slowthai: Ugly Album Review". Pitchfork. Condé Nast . Retrieved 8 March 2023. Goods that are faulty or sent in error must be returned to Crash Records Limited, 35 The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 6PU within 7 working days of the item being received by the customer. I was gonna call the album this, but I feel like ‘UGLY’ [U Gotta Love Yourself] is a better title. It’s about the irony of life… this is my version of Alanis Morissette‘s ‘Ironic’! My sense of humour has always been dark. With cancel culture, it’s harder to have a sense of humour now because you’re judged on it. Things that tend to be funny aren’t funny, the things that have become the normality in my life… speaking to people who’ve grown up in your average mum, dad, couple siblings environment, you say stuff to them and they’re like, ‘Man, that’s not normal’. So I’m like, ‘You ain’t been in the real world. You live in your little suburb, and you believe that you have an understanding, but you haven’t even seen out of it’. And that’s what’s funny, innit.” 11. ‘Tourniquet’ During the filming of the video I lost count of the hours I spent in that glass box. [ The David Blaine comparisons] are what people are saying, and I suppose it [may] come from my younger self watching that on TV. But concept was about isolating yourself. We can all look at ourselves in the mirror for a few seconds: I don’t know if you’ve ever tried staring in the mirror for 10 minutes, really analysing all of your imperfections. Out of it, though, my head was clear, and I got a lot of art which, at some point, we’re gonna put into a book. We want to inspire people to embrace their own glass case of emotion — like Ron Burgundy, innit!” 3. ‘Sooner’ At the time of writing, the war between Ukraine and Russia had just started, [inspiring the lyrics]: ‘Toy soldiers in lines, fall like dominoes / One man’s trash is cash, for some it’s liquid gold’. It’s about the way people give you false hope. It’s like propaganda, the way people are made to feel like they’re fighting for a better cause, but really you’re just fighting someone else’s battle. It’s about how we grow up but still act just like children, all that bullshit. But it’s also about personal things outside of that, which is the inspiration for the first line, and us being moulded by the society we live in. We’re told that it’s for us and everything’s for the greater good of us as people, but it’s not. Then you’re painted to look ugly, and you fall victim to the patriarchy. There’s a lot in this song.” 9. ‘Falling’

Contributors

Petridis, Alexis (2 March 2023). "Slowthai: Ugly review – the unravelling psyche of a true British great". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 March 2023. Smith, Thomas (2 March 2023). "Slowthai - 'UGLY' review: the agony and the ecstasy". NME . Retrieved 6 March 2023. Brodsky, Rachel (25 January 2023). "Slowthai Shares New Song "Selfish": Listen". Stereogum . Retrieved 8 March 2023. Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (25 January 2023). "Slowthai Announces New Album UGLY, Shares New Song "Selfish" ". Pitchfork . Retrieved 25 January 2023. The album cover is suitably up close and personal, with the camera zooming in tight on the left side of his face. The title of the album — an acronym for U Gotta Love Yourself — is freshly tattooed beneath his eye.