Florence Pugh looks for the light in Yungblud’s video for ‘Zombie’
The single will appear on the British musician's forthcoming album, Idols
By Emily Zemler
Yungblud has shared a music video for his song ‘Zombie,’ which stars Florence Pugh. The video, directed by Charlie Sarsfield, sees the Thunderbolts actress embodying a doctor in the British NHS as she helps patients. She’s steadfast at work, but breaks down at home, with the video showcasing her with a pair of angel’s wings.
“The song was written initially about my grandmother going through serious injury and trauma, leading her to become a different person to who she was before,” Yungblud explained in a statement. “It’s about the feeling of deterioration and ugliness; shutting out the world and the people we love out of the fear of becoming a burden or an embarrassment. We all want someone or something to comfort us no matter how we are right now or who we become in the future. But it’s fucking scary.”
The musician recently spoke to Rolling Stone about his admiration for Pugh. “Florence Pugh, in my opinion, is one of the most exciting British artists in a long time,” he said. “I think she has this individuality that is not adherent to anyone else. She is completely legit and individual within her own style in her own time.”
When Yungblud wrote ‘Zombie,’ he envisioned having someone like Pugh as its visual lead. “The song is so deep, so emotional, but so fundamentally British,” he told Rolling Stone. “I was like mind blown watching her on set. And she’s just a legend. You can tell, man. She’s just sat in a pub on a Sunday with a pint of Guinness, just talking shit.”
‘Zombie’ appears on Yungblud’s forthcoming double album, Idols, out June 20. So far he has shared several singles off the LP, including “Lovesick Lullaby” and “Hello Heaven, Hello.” The musician explained the concept behind the 13-track project by saying, “We turn to others for an identity before turning to ourselves. Self-belief, self-reclamation, self-evolution and change. As we grow up, we lose our belief in magic and mystery. We begin to rationalise everything; our cage walls build up. We compare ourselves to 15 different people before we’ve even had our breakfast.”
In August, Yungblud will take Idols on tour across North America. The run of shows will begin on Aug. 23 in Los Angeles and wrap on Sept. 21 in Toronto. Additional stops are scheduled in San Diego, Salt Lake City, Denver, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston, and more. General sale begins Friday, May 9 at 9 a.m. local. Artist presale and Spotify presale tickets are available now.