After a tumultuous few years that they may not have returned from, YOURS TRULY are back and fighting fit.
Words: Ali Shutler.
Photos: Frances Beach.
“I heard you say ‘nothing can last forever’,” snarls Mikaila Delgado on ‘Back 2 U’, the opening track to Yours Truly’s vicious new album ‘Toxic’. And for a while, it did seem like the end was rapidly approaching for Yours Truly. The band had built a loyal following with their debut album ‘Self Care’, a collection of empathetic pop-punk bangers, while the follow-up EP ‘Is This What I Look Like?’ saw the band broaden their musical horizons and start flirting with harsh truths.
The following year, guitarist Lachlan Cronin and drummer Brad Cronan left the band, leaving Mikaila and guitarist Teddie Winder-Haron wondering if they could carry on. “We definitely had conversations about the future. We didn’t know what Yours Truly would look like; we didn’t know what people would think. We didn’t know what to do,” Mikaila explains. So, the pair avoided those uncomfortable questions and started living life after years on the road. Eventually, they both decided that Yours Truly meant too much to them to just walk away. “We decided to do one more record and see what happened.”
The result is ‘Toxic’, a swaggering, snarling album that takes Yours Truly far beyond the simple pop-punk tag. “In the past, every record has been us chasing a specific vision,” says Mikaila. “With ‘Toxic’ though, all we wanted to do was create the best record Yours Truly could make and maybe figure out what the band was now at the same time.”
“I didn’t want to just make what people expected the next Yours Truly record to be,” she continues, with ‘Toxic’ taking inspiration from DnB, pop, and screaming post-hardcore. “There’s definitely a sense of freedom across this album.”
“We decided to do one more record and see what happened”
A lot of people have asked her if ‘Toxic’ felt like a risk, with the band moving even further away from their pop-punk roots at a time when that genre is having a massive resurgence thanks to high-profile comebacks from Blink-182, the success of When We Were Young Festival, and artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Machine Gun Kelly introducing a new generation to snotty guitars. “It didn’t feel like a risk,” says Mikaila. “It just felt right.”
“When you get signed to a label and you start touring, there is a pressure to constantly put out songs that people will like so you can be playlisted, so you can go on certain tours. After a while, that becomes all you think about, and it determines every move you make. I just didn’t want to do that with ‘Toxic’. I wanted to create a record for me,” she explains.
Today, Yours Truly are speaking to Dork backstage at Reading Festival after a blistering set on the Festival Republic stage. “I grew up watching YouTube videos of artists playing this festival, so it’s always been on my bucket list,” says Mikaila. “Playing Reading is one thing, but the fact I did it in a sparkly white outfit rather than wearing all black is also really important,” she grins, toying with the idea of how someone in the scene is expected to look. “‘Toxic’ is the record I’ve always wanted to make because it had no rules. I’m now applying that to every aspect of my life.”
Lyrically, ‘Toxic’ sees Mikaila dealing with a lot of heartbreak after the band essentially went through a breakup. “It was the first time in my life I had lost such important people to me,” she says, with the album picking through the wreckage. “Any relationship is a two-way street, and it was scary being honest with myself about that.”
“Everyone is deserving of care, love, community, and a place in the world”
The band wrote over 50 tracks for ‘Toxic’, with the darker ones making the cut. As brutal as ‘Toxic’ can be, though, there’s a lot of perseverance as well. “Things do get better,” she promises. “Trust me, I know.”
“When I started writing this record, I remember just wanting to feel love,” says Mikaila, who then had to go into writing sessions with different people and speak openly about her experiences. “It would start these conversations, and I discovered that pain, suffering, and feeling unloved is such a universal experience. Making this record, sharing it with other people, it’s a nice reminder that people care,” she says. “Everyone is deserving of care, love, community, and a place in the world. With this album, I don’t want anyone to think they’re alone.”
They’ve had a rough time, but Yours Truly are now in the healthiest place they’ve been in for years, helped by the addition of new drummer Henry Beard. “We’ve known him for years, and there’s something about his energy that’s made Teddy and I less pessimistic,” says Mikaila. “We’re ready to ride the wave, say yes to the things that feel right, and see what happens next. It’s all about fun right now, and we’re excited for the future again.”
Yours Truly’s album ‘Toxic’ is out now.
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