It's hard to be mysterious when they give so much of themselves away in song anyway. Third album 'softscars' sees yeule continue to twist raw emotion around modern angst but with a focus on live instruments, it feels even more honest, more human than anything that's come before.

After working on 'Nuclear War Post X Diary', their 2021 covers record that included takes on Grimes, Big Thief, The Breeders and The Velvet Underground, yeule found themselves playing guitar more than piano. It quickly reignited their love of groups like My Chemical Romance, Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy. "Before that, I think I was denying that I was emo," they grin. That pop-punk scene resonated deeply with Yeule as a child, but it hit just as hard when they revisited it. "You know that meme, 'utilising my memory loss privileges to rewatch my favourite films', that was me with early-00s alt-rock."

It also allowed them to overcome a case of ego death. "I had no identity, so coming back to my roots was really important," they explain. "This album was a lot of coping with the passage of time. Everything's so different, but I feel a sense of comfort coming back to things that sound familiar. There is also something very gentle about my early work that never hit a certain spot I always wanted to hit. 'softscars' allowed me to really nail that feeling." That said, you won't have heard punk rock quite like this. "My love for electronic music will never go away entirely," they explain.

Lyrically, instead of escaping to alternative realities or jumping to the future, yeule turned inwards for 'Softscars'. "Most of the time, we try to avoid doing that by looking at memes or doom scrolling, but writing this record, I was very much inside my own head. It hurt, but it was important."

That painful, confrontational introspection was inspired by a series of journal entries they'd labelled 'scars' that included "traumatic events or life-changing moments. I wrote them down as a scar entry because they created a wound in me," they continue.

Opener 'X W X' is a purge of fury and frustration, with yeule "ranting about gender dysphoria" before dreamy grunge track 'Sulky Baby' finds them trying to forgive themselves for not giving their younger self the love they needed. 'Software Update' is a visceral "low-key diss track" written about recent traumatic events. "Previously, I would have just pushed it to the back of my head and suffered in silence, but now it comes out as anger, which is better than taking it out on myself," they explain. The title-track brings together this new direction with what's come before.

A transitional record, Yeule describes 'Softscars' as a departure from their old work "but I also feel like I'm making the music that I always wanted to make, but couldn't because I didn't have the resources or the companions."

Growing up, yeule was obsessed with Club Penguin, MSN Chat Bots and "anything else that fulfilled the loneliness I felt as a kid. I'd watch Anime or play games like Final Fantasy and see these really cool looking characters," they continue. "There's this childlike innocence in me that still wants to be the sort of character who I'd put on a pedestal. What I'm doing now, it feels so much like those dreams I had as a kid.

They started releasing electronic music in 2014 because it was the easiest thing to create with a small budget and no bandmates. "A lot of those songs were written about being online, falling in love with those simulated worlds."

As their career evolved from bedroom producer utilising microphones from the video game Rock Band to working at Abbey Road Studios, yeule started creating a community around their music, but made sure the atmosphere was always the same. "It doesn't matter if it's a shitty DIY setup or I'm using a mic that costs way more than my rent; I want to create a space that's sensitive, violent and devoted. If you introduce someone into that environment who doesn't understand the message or the music, things can get uncomfortable, but with 'softscars', I mostly worked with friends" - including Mura Masa, Chris Greatti and Kin Leonn.

They've already released a handful of tracks from 'Softscars', including the garage rock of 'Dazies', the slow-burning 'Sulky Baby' and the dreamy 'Ghosts'. "I've seen a lot of people call this record shoegaze; I like to think of it as cyber-twee," they explain.

yeule believes the music is already resonating with people because "there's not a lot of music out there that speaks about very specific issues like eating disorders, gender dysphoria or obsession. It's all very personal to me. It can sometimes feel like I'm the only one struggling with these things, but then I see people react to the songs so strongly. I guess I'm not alone." ■