Rebuilding The Naked And Famous

The Naked and Famous of 2020 are rediscovering themselves. After a tumultuous period of personal ups and downs, lineup changes and fatigue, founding members ​Alisa Xayalith ​and ​Thom Powers have been intent on working through some of the baggage that comes from the ever-challenging trials of life, and ten-plus years in a band.

Self-described as "a vehicle to plow forwards into our own future", 'Recover' - their new album, due this May - is a laser-pointed statement of intent. Largely autobiographical, it sees the pair embrace healing head-on, while taking their take in indie-pop to fresh new places.

In a year that'll also see them celebrate ten years of their debut, 'Passive Me, Aggressive You', which scored them a Number 1 in their native New Zealand back in 2010, it's an exciting time. Hey guys, how are you? Having a good start to the year? Thom: Exhausted: we just wrapped shooting a two-day music video for 'Bury Us'. It was incredibly fun, and I can't wait to see the first edit - we've never done anything like this before… Alisa: So far, 2020 has felt exciting. We've both been working on music for The Naked and Famous for the past two years in tandem with various other projects; it's exciting to see some of this work finally make its way out of the studio and into the world. Tell us about your last few years, how have you been since 'Simple Forms'? Thom: Up and down - lots of soul searching. We needed to rebuild ourselves after that album. While we've been quiet publicly, we've been through a lot personally. As 'Passive Me, Aggressive You' turns 10, TNAF feels both like a new beginning, and a return to form. The world has almost certainly sped up, and we're no longer young and naive, but grateful to still be here. Did the reaction to that record influence what you wanted to go on to do next? Alisa: Absolutely. I feel the net we were casting creatively during the era of 'Simple Forms' was footed in heartbreak and devastation. I could say that period of time was written while I was in a pretty dark place. There were times where it felt like I fell out of love with music and life in general, and I didn't really want to participate in it. Oscillating between the highest highs and lowest lows. I'm so happy to have gone through some growing pains as a human and now I feel like I can look at life through a more positive lens these days.