Hayden Thorpe fronts the April issue of DIY

When Wild Beasts announced at the end of 2017 that they were to call it a day, the DIY office shed a collective tear. After the emotional closure that was their final show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo last February, things went silent on the Kendal four-piece’s front: until now.

After sharing gorgeous debut solo single ‘Diviner’ back in February, Hayden Thorpe has today announced a new album of the same name, and in the April issue of DIY, out this Friday (12th April), we get the first word on the turbulent time that after the band’s decision was made, and eventually the spiritual bliss (and debut album) that followed.

“You’re often asked ‘Would you rather go straight away, or would you rather have the time to make peace with your loved ones, and have the conversations you need to have?’ And although you have to endure the pain of knowing the ending is coming, at least you get to have those conversations,” Hayden tells us of the breakup of the band and subsequent personal enlightenment he experienced.

“There was a lot of heavy lifting done emotionally in that time. I have to say, at times it felt like trying to land a jumbo jet without the qualifications, but it was worth it in the end. I was squirming and I was kicking at times, and the toddler in me didn’t want to have to tolerate it, but we were all the caretakers of our dreams. As guys, we’d fulfilled our dreams and we were the caretakers of those dreams, and we had a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to look after that.”