Taylor Bleu’s alt-R&B debut “Mad House” finds poetry in ache and angst

Available now via Polydor Label Group, “Mad House” was born out of a moment of barely-contained fury. Bleu arrived at the studio late, and a difficult morning at home hung over him. “I got there late, and I was vexed,” he explains. “They went out, I stayed in the room. I just remember the aggression and the angst I had, and I was putting it into the song.” This anger provided the spark that brought his debut to life, through gritted teeth, the song acted as a cathartic outlet for Bleu in the moment.

“Mad House” draws from Bleu's turbulent home life, the years spent as sole carer for his mother, whose health struggles have defined much of his life. At 9 years old, he was chosen to sing solo at a youth Gospel Choir at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls. After training in musical theatre at The BRIT School and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Peckham, Bleu fell out of love with the practice, realising he’d been following a path that was missing his own footprints. It was organisations like The Big House, a charity focused on transforming the lives of care leavers and at-risk young people through the arts, that eventually allowed him to see music in a different way.

Bleu talks of the difficulties of seeing music as an opportunity: “There’s never been space for me, ever. Music obviously was never gonna be a dream [for me] because it's life or death every day, genuinely.” Posting raw, unfiltered clips of him singing in reverb-filled stairwells, Bleu’s soulful, precisely textured voice caught the eye of his now-manager, who was persistent enough to change Bleu’s mind. “These people inspired me to actually make something of music,” he says.

The result of these pushes from his community is a sound inspired by the emotional weight of Sampha or James Blake, cinematic and devastating. Built in close collaboration with producer Paul Visser, who Bleu describes as "very methodical and mathematical," and Ella Mayjor, whose pop instincts allowed Bleu to find lightness in his darker musicality. The track found its shape through a perfect harmony of creative expertise. It became a space where ideas could be put out to be judged, and heartbreaking truths had a place to land.

The lyric “I've been through pages, tell me where it says that hell is a place for a baby” left the room stunned, says Bleu, for its power and for the reality of Taylor’s upbringing hitting his collaborators. “It’s strange to try and make something that feels cohesive with different voices,” Bleu explains. “A producer will have a way they like to produce, a writer will have a way they like to write, and then I, as the artist, will have my own story. But it’s genuinely a collab.”

Layered in the narrative of Bleu’s childhood home environment and experiences, an imaginative visual for “Mad House”, directed by Jordan Martin, accompanies the track. With an upcoming EP release being teased, Bleu plays his debut show at The Lower Third, London, on 24 June.