Boy Bleach: Meet the boy band subverting stereotypes

How do you define a 'boy band' in 2022?

If the '90s saw Take That parade around in pleather, noughties were famed for frosted tips and the 2010s dominated by One Direction; what does today's boy band look like?

Something like Boy Bleach, probably.

Made up of two sets of brothers - Lou and Jimi and James and Nick - plus their best friend JJ, Boy Bleach represent a new generation of boy band ready to break down barriers and confront societal issues head-on.

It's music with a message. The group's new EP - Or Are You Normal? - covers topics from toxic masculinity (Perfect Guy) to the incessant anxieties plaguing the youth of today (Perplexed); with bands like BROCKHAMPTON and Glass Animals proving clear inspirations sonically.

We caught up with the group on a rainy east London Wednesday to better understand the mission behind the music.

"We've been sitting on this EP for a minute," they told us. "It's a snapshot in time for us. When we started writing it, it was based on everything happening in our lives at the time. So much has changed since then. Artistically, we're reliving it all now with the shows and music videos.

"This EP is the first project, as a band, where we thought 'we want to do this as a career now.' We'd played shows and done covers - every The 1975 song you could learn - but we really wanted to craft our own sound.

"This is the first project we'd written where we thought 'let's not just be a bedroom band, let's define ourselves."

So, why is it so important for a boy band to stand for something these days?

"We want to be something bigger than just a band that makes music. We want to talk about what's important to us and make art that speaks to people," they explained.

"We want to create something we believe in, from the get-go. We want to be honest about what we're going through and our stance on certain things. Music's great for escapism; but you can also learn, reflect and re-evaluate.

"We talk about things that we've been through. It's never going to be more real than that."

Boy Bleach's EP Or Are You Normal? is out now.