My Inspiration: Future Humans – It’s Time To Let Go

Photo By Eddy Maynard

Future Humans is London-based producer Sam Cramer (who has produced various artists such as Lewis Capaldi, Sam Sure and Kelli-Leigh) and Newcastle-based soulful singer-songwriter Afnan Prince and their band consisting of John, Andrew and Michael.

The quintet release their third EP, It’s Time to Let Go, a collection of silky smooth indie-pop bangers with spacious soundscapes that allow Afnan Prince’s voice to radiate.

Here, Afnan tells us more about the inspirations within the EP…

The entire EP is a body of work written and curated over a relatively short period of time.  Sam and I work on a time-limited basis, where every song we write is to be created within a 12-hour period (from nothing to polished demo). 

It’s something that works well for us, you don’t have time to overthink anything, and you have to work in flow. 

We just get into our little red recording space in Damon Albarn’s studio on Latimer Road and we come out a few hours later with a piece of music. 

The songs are then brought to the rest of the guys in the band (John – bass, Michael – drums, Andy – keys). They are all incredible musicians in their own right and their ideas help steer the evolution of the sound; especially after rehearsals and gigging. 

It’s a beautifully organic journey that flows into the finalising process. 

Everything is done in house; visuals, mixing, mastering which allows us an exciting element of autonomy over the content. 

It’s Been A Week – is loosely based on the idea of ‘God’ skimping out on paying his bar tab whilst working the room. I like writing around unusual concepts, it’s fun. The idea was to create a piece of music to pull you in instantly, no intro or set up, just straight into the beat, bass line and vocal. We created a vocal hook to encapsulate a crowd sample feel. We made the ‘it’s time to let go’ chant repeat and build, almost into a Sufi-like celebration; the same way you’d see crowds overcome with the energy of a room led by an evangelical pastor.
To follow, the tempo slows, distorts and drops you back into that satirical reality where ‘God’ is interrupted by the server coming to collect the bill and an autograph for his wife. After that we descend into Heavy guitar-led chaos. It’s time to let go of your idols. 

Planets – is our homage to the bands we love and grew up listening to (death cab, deftones etc) and a reflection of our live sound. We debuted it at the Reeperbahn festival this year and it was so much fun to play live. It follows the fragmented memories of the protagonist sitting at the table with their partner’s family all wanting to offer their help. ‘A rescue dog in grass-stained jeans’- It’s time to let go of your shame. 

Bullet – began as a GarageBand melodic idea. In chasing guitar tones in the world of ‘Motion Sickness-Phoebe Bridgers’ we found the pieces to build the song with relative ease. The chorus pulls in verbatim phases detailing a conversation in consolidation. You can’t carry anyone else’s pain, nor can they carry yours for you. It’s time to let go of your expectations. 

I Can’t Believe It – is a song born out of a story told about a friend’s passing. The things that were misunderstood about their path and the honesty with which they shared their journey. The references to the “paranoiac-critical” method Salvador Dali employed and how eerily that way of thinking bled into their final days. It’s a lament dressed up as an out-and-out pop song. It’s time to let go of your pain. 

Again – is a song we have been gigging for a little while. It’s a live favourite for us. It’s a song of reassurance. No matter how many times you feel lost, we will find each other. We are tethered in the cosmic. It’s time to let go of your fear. 

Avalanche – is an honest look at the battle between letting go and the pangs of regret; to know that things are out of your control and there is nothing that can be done to change that. The idea was to write a song which wasn’t heavily based in any particular sonic signature. A song that was just more straight up and would hold space with both its full instrumentation and just a piano and vocal confession. Each time the chorus repeats, more is brought to light. The guitars distort further, the piano lines climb higher, the emotion becomes more raw; building to the cathartic admittance of it all. It’s time to let go of your mistakes.