One of the most unexpected releases of 2024 was Bring Me the Horizon’s newest record, POST HUMAN: NeX GEn. The band surprise-announced the release on social media, releasing the record in full the next day. This method being similar to Billie Eilish’s latest release with Hit Me Hard and Soft. As of today, the record has been out for over a month reaching number 1 on the US Top Hard Rock Albums on Billboard and 36 on the US Billboard 200.
Background and Surprise Album Announcement
The latest Bring Me the Horizon record announcement was a shock to many fans, with the band announcing on social media on May 23rd that the album would be out the next day. You can read more about what led up to this album release here.
The album POST HUMAN: NeX GEn includes 16 tracks, with 6 being singles that have been out as early as 2021. The track list is as follows:
01. [ost] dreamseeker
02. YOUtopia
03. Kool-Aid
04. Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd
05. liMOusIne ft AURORA
06. DArkSide
07. a bulleT w/ my namE On ft Underoath
08. [ost] (spi)ritual
09. n/A
10. LosT
11. sTraNgeRs
12. R.i.p. (duskCOre RemIx)
13. AmEN! ft Lil Uzi Vert & Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw
14. [ost] p.u.s.s.-e
15. DiE4u
16. DIg It
Singles and Music Videos
The first single is “DiE4u” which was released in September of 2021.
Following the release of “DiE4U,” the band also did a song for the video game “Gran Turismo 7” in January 2022. Then in July of 2022 the single “sTraNgeRs” was released.
Then, almost a year later, “LosT” was released in May of 2023.
A month after “LosT” the collaborative track with Lil Uzi Vert, Daryl Palumbo and Glassjaw was released in June of 2023.
In late October of 2023, “DArkSide” was released. “DArkSide” is also one of the few singles that did not get a video at the time of its release. This is likely due to heavy touring schedules and timing conflicts.
Following the release of “DArkSide” and months of touring, “Kool-Aid” was released in January of 2024.
POST HUMAN: NeX Gen was surprise-released on May 24th, the band then released their latest music video a week later on June 5th. The music video was for one of the fan favorite tracks, “Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd” which generated 2.5 million views on Youtube.
All of these music videos further show the bands experimentalism and portray the albums themes of loss, addiction, and trauma.
Album Themes
In an intimate interview with Oli Sykes at The Church (the band’s headquarters and Drop Dead, Sykes’ clothing line), Sykes dives into many questions fans have been wondering.
1. COVID-19
Sykes explains the long build up to a new record and how COVID-19 affected the bands progress and experimentalism. Specifically Sykes explained, that the band planned on releasing four EP’s (Extended Plays) a year instead of a whole record. But because COVID-19’s restrictions ended sooner than expected for the band, they were only able to release one EP in 2020, POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR.
“We realized a couple of months in that [remote collaboration] was not that difficult and we did allow ourselves to experiment more than we originally thought, which I think was a perfect combination for Bring Me the Horizon because I think we are always in danger of going too far and ‘going how can we make this different.’ So I think that original brief of ‘lets do a solid Bring Me the Horizon record’ was perfect for us because it made us push ourselves sonically and go places that we haven’t gone before and be a bit more open and fun with it but also [creating] a solid Bring Me the Horizon album.”
Oli Skyes, NME Interview June 2024
Additionally, during lockdown and the rise of TikTok, the band exponentially grew in popularity. Sykes stated, “TikTok turned into this huge thing and we were very lucky that we got a little piece of that pie, and suddenly all these new kids that we were a brand new band to. I think we went into lockdown with 3 or 4 million listeners on Spotify and we came out of lock down with 8.” This also pushed the band to bigger tours and arenas, which they had never been before.
2. Addiction
At the same time of creating songs and being in lockdown, Sykes was also dealing with a relapse in his addiction. Sykes revealed in the interview,
“I’ve been quite open about falling back into drugs and bad habits, and that idea is what prompted me to write the record… [in the past] I was in a good place because the band was doing well and we were touring the world and getting nominations for awards and just feeding off of all of that. And when all of that went away, I went straight back to drugs.”
Oli Skyes, NME Interview June 2024
Sykes then goes on to break down some of the individual track meanings within the context of his struggles with addiction. “YOUtopia” sets the scene of the record and portrays the goal of the record or where we hopefully end up which is content or being at a state of peace and happiness.
The entire record is “a battle between light and dark.” Specifically with the track “Kool-Aid,” it talks about a toxic lover that you think can make you happy but it’s really bad for you in the end. The toxicity is what pulls you back and forth between the light and dark. Similar with “liMOusIne” the song is about the darkness pulling you in many different directions.
“That first step is to go ‘I know it’s going to be hard and [take] a lot longer, and I know I’m going to fail.’ Throughout the record, multiple times, there are times where I fail, because everyone who goes down that path [recovery] is going to fail. Because you have to fail in order to realize what’s wrong with you and what you need to do next.”
Oli Skyes, NME Interview June 2024
Having since gotten the necessary help through rehab and a change in mindset, Sykes is in a better place. While Sykes was breaking down “YOUtopia” he says, “I’m not quite there myself [blocking out the external noise and following your heart] but I know that it is the guiding thing of how to be happy.”
3. Loss
During the writing process of the album the band had the exit of one of their key members, Jordan Fish. Fish had been Sykes right-hand man when it came to writing and all things creative with the band, so suffering that loss while also recovering from relapse was difficult.
“Both of us came together when we needed each other and we just didn’t stop [creating and writing]. And we unknowingly started pushing the band out and it was just the Oli and Jordan show… there is a danger in being addicted to anything and I realized that I was addicted to the part of not stopping or the fear that we [the band] were going to drop off.”
Oli Skyes, NME Interview June 2024
Sykes ultimately described the split with Fish as a fork in the road where the band was heading one way and Fish was going another. The break seems to be amicable with Sykes stating that he sees no reason why in the future that they can’t catch up and talk about things.
You can watch or listen to more of Sykes’ interview with NME here:
Overall, this record is one of Bring Me the Horizon’s best blends of evolution and style to date. The record feels like a call back to That’s the Spirit era with a blend of the experimentalism from Amo that works together when it feels like the record should not work.
Tour
Currently the band has tour dates set for Europe until July, Asia in August, and Latin America for the rest of 2024. You can find more information on the bands website as well.
