BEFORE making his most ambitious album Cosmic Opera Act I, Labrinth reached a crossroads: Was he chasing fame or authenticity?
He says: “Am I on a journey to be famous or am I on another journey where creative fulfilment doesn’t always mean being super-successful?”
The album, he explains, came from choosing the latter — and finally being at peace with that decision.
Labrinth has had hits and won major awards since being discovered and signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco label in 2010.
I thought it was weird that I wasn’t obsessed with awards and accolades, and I questioned if I was in the right industry
Labrinth
These include MOBO and Brit Awards for collaborations with Tinie Tempah, an Ivor Novello, an Emmy for his Euphoria soundtrack, alongside Grammy nominations for work with The Weeknd, Beyonce and Billie Eilish.
Chatting on a video call from a studio in LA, the singer and producer says: “There were moments in my career where I found myself more focused on novelty and gold.
“There are artists who want to be at the Grammys in three years — that’s their focus. They want to be successful and famous within a certain time and organise all of that in their head.
“For me, I was more focused on the music than the fame. I’d be obsessed with a guitar sounding like a Chuck Berry record and I started to question if I was in the right place. Should I be chasing success?
“I thought it was weird that I wasn’t obsessed with awards and accolades, and I questioned if I was in the right industry.”
On his recent single, the hip-hop confessional Implosion, Labrinth says: “I was losing my mind. It was ripping away from my ego.
“When you taste success, it’s an addictive drug, and you don’t know you’re obsessed. It’s chasing dopamine. You don’t know you’re addicted until you try to pull away.
“If you need success to be validated or to be fulfilled, then there’s something wrong. And that’s where the implosion for me was. I needed to evolve beyond these urges and needs. Then I got an ADHD diagnosis and everything made sense.”
That was two years ago, when the artist born Timothy McKenzie finally got an answer that explained his behaviour.
He says: “I was lucky and went to see a doctor in the US.
“It can take months, even years, to get answers. I went to see Dr Amen, who is a celebrity doctor, and he did a scan of my brain.
“He could literally point things out like where I’d hit my head when I was ten. He did a real deep dive into how my brain works. And after that, it allowed me to be a lot more forgiving with myself.”
The idea for Cosmic Opera Act I came from the inner turmoil Labrinth had experienced with his mental health in the entertainment business while trying to define his own success plus his love for films like Star Wars.
“I still haven’t been to an opera — I know that sounds insane,” he says with a laugh.
“The opera is connected to drama and deep emotion.
“Then the cosmic part was after reading an article which said there are as many connections in our brain as there are stars in our universe.
“So that was the perspective of the title — with mental health the subject.
“I’ve always been a fan of opera from a distance, and I’ve always enjoyed the idea of exploring it.
“Also, I grew up with films from the Eighties like Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Those film scores stuck in my mind and I wanted to make an album that incorporated and explored their sound.
“Of course, me working in film and TV pushed me further into that direction.”
I wrote that song to show how I had evolved from the pain and confusion about my dad. I looked at myself as being a mini Luke Skywalker coming out of his demons
Labrinth
Labrinth’s love of Star Wars was also the inspiration behind one of the many standout songs on the album, S.W.M.F. (Star Wars Motherf***er), the singer feeling at peace with his demons.
It was a battle that helped him agree to soundtracking the Christmas John Lewis advert, a remake of 1990 rave classic Where Love Lives with original vocalist Alison Limerick.
“The John Lewis song was the finish line of dealing with demons for me — which was my relationship with my father.
“The John Lewis storyline was about a father and son’s relationship, so me doing the ad was like me saying, ‘Hey, Dad, I get it’.”
He adds: “Our relationship wasn’t great. My dad, who has passed, was violent and not present. He’d had a horrible childhood with an extremely violent stepfather, and that affected the way he was a father to me.
“I saw him occasionally. He was a bit of a ladies’ man, and I don’t think he knew how to be present enough for me as a kid. He didn’t do stuff like taking me to the park or giving me advice.
“Also, he was violent with me, trying to knock me for six when I was very young.
“So I had to face those demons and it made me think about my own anger or frustration. But when I look back, I feel pity for him, because he didn’t have the tools that I have today.
“It was the same with ADHD — I wanted to understand my brain and the way it works, so that I could be the best father I can be to my three young kids. And, in that journey, it made me think of my dad compared to my relationship with my kids and the moments they needed me — because I never had that.
“So I wrote that song to show how I had evolved from the pain and confusion about my dad. I looked at myself as being a mini Luke Skywalker coming out of his demons.”
God Spoke is a special gospel-influenced track inspired by Labrinth’s struggles with religion.
He says: “I grew up very religious. My grandad is a reverend and my mum is a devout Christian. She came over for Christmas to be with her grandkids, and we had loads of talks about religion.
I had a really bad temper. I would be kicked out of class all the time and I’d end up in the music room
Labrinth
“I’m spiritual, but I don’t follow a practice. I have all the respect for those who do follow a religion but I see God as unlimited and infinite and in a lot more places than a room or a structure — that’s why, to me, it’s bigger than one religion or one place.
“So God Spoke is like a homage to my grandad. When I was a kid, a lot of people would come to church for redemption. So I wrote that I’m at the end of being the old me, and I’m ready to grow and morph into the new me.”
Burn out
Labrinth says music was his saviour as a child and he would spend hours making music after being excluded.
“I got in a lot of trouble at school,” he says.
“I had a really bad temper. I would be kicked out of class all the time and I’d end up in the music room.
“Eventually it got to the point where I would get in trouble purposely, just so I could go there, because it was the easiest place for me to be, and the most peaceful.”
Labrinth says there is still not enough help with artists and their mental health in the entertainment industry.
He says: “RSD — Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria — is associated with ADHD and there are many artists in the music industry with this.
“Artists don’t learn how to manage their careers or their mental health. When they get a deal, they can burn out because they don’t have the tools to support the way their brain works.
“A lot of artists can end up in drug abuse, because they don’t have the skills to deal with a song not working.
“There isn’t a support system in the music industry — and it’s needed.”
In April Labrinth will take Cosmic Opera Act I to Coachella festival in California.
He says: “I am still working on how that looks, because it’s not cheap to do what is on the record. But I have big ideas and big visions for how I want to present the music and what I want to explore sonically.”
The Hackney-born star last played the festival in 2023 and was the talk of the weekend, with surprise guests Billie Eilish and Zendaya — in her first live show in over seven years, performing I’m Tired and All For Us from Euphoria on the second weekend.
“Zendaya was not planned at all,” says Labrinth. “Billie was the first week but Zendaya, who was on a film set, said she couldn’t make it.
“Then she called me to say she was going to Vegas to watch Usher and would be passing by. So it was literally last minute.”
Labrinth is looking forward to working on the score for Euphoria season three because Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer has joined the show’s production team.
He says: “The show is special because it speaks to the language of this era. That’s what inspired me.
“And this time, having Hans Zimmer involved — an experienced genius — makes a difference. I’ve always wanted to work with him, so this is my chance to do so.
If I could work with anyone next I’d say David Attenborough
Labrinth
“Gladiator was the film that got me on to Hans, and True Romance is another I love.
“He and Beyonce picked my song [Spirit] for Lion King so then I was like, ‘Well, I need to meet this guy’. It seems like life is trying to pull us together.”
Labrinth has learned a lot from working with superstars.
He says: “Beyonce has been a fan for a long time, because she’s checked out a lot of my records. She’s very kind, and treats people with respect, and is a real professional.
“Abel [The Weeknd] was like an animal in the studio. He knows what he wants and then it goes crazy when he releases something.
“If I could work with anyone next I’d say David Attenborough. I know he’s not a musician, but I love his voice and I’ve always wanted to put him on a record. Morgan Freeman and him — their voices are musical instruments to me.
“But next I’m in London working with Skepta. The UK has some special artists and I’m dying to get over there to perform.”