HMLTD discuss their fractured past, turbulent present, and fascinating future

I first saw HMLTD play to a small crowd of people back in 2016 in Glasgow when they were a completely unknown quantity. It was a free show, of the sort that one finds themselves at out of a hazy midweek mix of boredom and curiosity, but the effect of their performance was utterly transformative: this was clearly a band with a definitive purpose, a clear viewpoint, and an outstanding vision. Early singles ‘Stained’ and ‘Is This What You Wanted?’ defied easy categorisation – punk rock inflected with a welcome touch of glam and exuberance – and were all the better for it. Soon after, they were being hailed by NME as “the UK’s most thrilling new band” and signing to Sony. It was a heady ascent but the past few years have been tumultuous, an all-too-familiar story of a singular band finding friction with their new major record label. The Instant Opinion Machine of Twitter saw them briefly get cancelled, a band member was lost in the aftermath, and Sony dropped them as labels like them are wont to do at the slightest notice of controversy. HMLTD enter this new decade refreshed, however, having signed to the independent and embracing label Lucky Number; a new album, West Of Eden, is also slated for release this February. Facing a mainstream music industry that is often stale and uninspired, not to mention another year of existential murkiness, it’s vital to have challenging outfits like HMLTD to provoke and enliven. We were happy to discuss the fractured past, the turbulent present, and the fascinating future with the band’s frontman Henry Spychalski.