Alfie Templeman - Forever Isn’t Long Enough

Still in his teens, Bedfordshire’s Alfie Templeman has already established himself as a veritable force of British indie pop, with a plethora of releases to his name and an impressively broad scope of musical styles ventured. Continuing to perform all instruments with his multi-talented fingers, ‘Forever Isn’t Long Enough’, the singer-songwriter’s most comprehensive release to date, turns up the production slickness while sacrificing none of his affable, boyish charm. Throughout ‘Forever…’ Alfie takes a percussive Foals-esque indie disco as his primary rhythmic mantra, dousing his tracks with crowd-pleasing choruses and hip-shifting backbeat chops. Opener ‘Shady’, produced by Tom McFarland of Mercury-shortlisted collective Jungle, announces this record’s grand ambitions, the pristine polish of its groove rivalling chart-giants Harry Styles and The Weeknd for its effortless pop sensibilities. ‘Wait, I Lied’, with its delicious funk-bass riff, takes Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Why’d You Only Call Me…’ and injects it with propulsive, youthful urgency.

There are plenty of retro-leaning ideals on show too. Lyrical reveries of “Sweet nostalgia” and “1983” are reflected in the chunky, Tears for Fears-ish beats of ‘Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody’ and shimmering ‘80s synths of ‘Film Scene Daydream’. A final switch to lo-fi on intimate bedroom-core closer ‘One More Day’, gives another indication that Alfie Templeman is not one to rest on his laurels, not afraid to constantly tinker with his sound to discover fresh forms of pop satisfaction.