Placebo to Chaoszine: “In today’s age, when technology allows you to make everything completely quantized and super clean, I think we wanted to make an album that felt very human.”

UK-based alternative rock band Placebo has a new album, “Never Let Me Go”, out on 25 March, 2022, via So Recordings. It is their first release since 2013’s “Loud Like Love”, and, this time around, the band brings us a more experimental sound. With 25 years under their belts, Placebo has always questioned the rules, and transgression was always part of their art. Their first greatly successful single, 1997’s “Nancy Boy” brought themes like sexual ambiguity and substance abuse to the foreground. This caught David Bowie’s eye, leading to a tour with the rock’n’roll chameleon, and roles in Todd Haynes’ glam-rock homage motion picture “Velvet Goldmine”, which features Placebo’s cover of T-Rex’s “20^th Century Boy” in its soundtrack.

Placebo’s long-spanning career featured a punk-rock beginning, with lyrics full of teenage angst and hedonism, but soon turned towards a more introspective mode, bringing themes like depression, medication, relationships and melancholy into their songs, with a sound more mature on each subsequent album.

Chaoszine had the opportunity to catch up with Stefan Olsdal about the new album and the role Placebo had in bringing important themes like sexuality to the conversation, as well as their expectations for the upcoming tour. You can read the interview below.

Hello, how’s it going?

Olsdal: Hello. Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.

How has the pandemic affected you guys as a band?

Olsdal: I think it’s affected everyone, you know? I suppose it’s been frustrating, obviously. I think we would have had this conversation two years ago, if it hadn’t been for the pandemic. But, you know, it’s what happened, and we will adapt. We just get on with things. Some things became harder and, strangely, some things became easier, life became simpler. And I think, perhaps, I personally welcome certain aspects of it, I’m not gonna lie to you. Because it’s been such a hectic life for so long. We had more time to really get inside each and every song, and to really explore all the possibilities and explore all the layers without any constraints.

It’s your first studio album since 2013, and most of it was ready before the pandemic. How was the creative process this time around?

Olsdal: With every record, we tried to not get bored and to get out of old, comfortable ways of working. We tried to start off approaching from a different angle. And this time, Brian came to me with that idea, saying, “Let’s try to do it backwards,” you know? And we started off with the album artwork and the song titles and kinda worked our way from there. But at the same time, this was the first time that we started an album, just the two of us, because we didn’t have a drummer. So, there were a few factors in starting this record that were a little bit different. And I think we need that. I mean, the end result might still sound very much like a Placebo record. And I think it does. There was a time in the beginning of this record that we thought, “Let’s make this whole album without a drummer.” So, we started writing with a drum machine. And some of those elements are still on there.

Yeah, it sounds a lot more electronic. Your sound has changed a lot over these 25 years of career, and this album sounds a lot more experimental. Was that a deliberate thing?

Olsdal: Yeah, I think we’ve learned to embrace happy accidents. We like to use equipment and technology in the wrong order and plug things in that are not supposed to be plugged in that way. Or when the computer corrupts, you know, the sound of that. And also incorporate the imperfections. I think perfection is impossible, and also it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s best, you know? So, some little noises and things slightly out of tune and sounds that are not supposed to be on the record, we kinda left in because they felt right. And I think, in today’s age, when technology allows you to make everything completely quantized and super clean, I think we wanted to make an album that felt very human as well.

This album seems to derive from not just introspective themes but also themes about the world. We’ve been going through some tough times for the past five, six years ̶ even before the pandemic, there has been a lot of division in the world. Did that inform your music in any way for this album?

Olsdal: Yes, certainly, we’re human beings who are affected by what goes on around us, for sure. The end of the world has always been on the human mind. If you’re talking about turmoil and discord and violence and destruction. I mean, the human is no stranger to all of these topics. Perhaps, we’re seeing them a little bit more prescient now.

You have always been a transgressive band and always questioned a lot of things about society, especially gender issues. Another artist who did that was David Bowie, who you worked with in the beginning of your career. Besides, you were part of “Velvet Goldmine”, a movie by Todd Haynes about glam rock, which was one of the seeds of all this transgression. So how was that experience, put into perspective, and how does that still affect your music nowadays?

Olsdal: When we started out, in the mid-90s, there was a lot about us that didn’t fit in. As a band, we kind of didn’t really fit into what was happening, in the height of Britpop. So, yeah, at times we did feel like outsiders, ever since we were teenagers, trying to find a place to fit in, trying to find like-minded people. And I think that kind of search for belonging and a space to freely express ourselves kind of led us to Placebo. And it’s something that we’ve held on to ever since. We didn’t feel like we fit in anywhere else, so we can create our own world. I suppose, we kind of searched for that space to be able to express ourselves freely, be it the way that we present ourselves or what we sing about, or how we perform, how we act. It’s all part of our identity. And I don’t think we could have done it any other way. I think the things that you’re talking about, perhaps there is more open discussion about them now. There’s more visibility in terms of gender identity and sexuality and perhaps mental health. And I think that’s certainly a positive thing, but I’m not so sure that it’s where we want it to be. Have we advanced really, you know, as humans? I don’t know.

Your music did make a lot of difference for a whole generation. And it had resonance. You just have to look at how your audience is responding and how people always responded to your music, right? That must count for something.

Olsdal: Yeah, absolutely. It feels like we attracted like-minded people, you know? Those are our fans. And absolutely, that’s an extreme form of validation for us, which we’ll be forever grateful for. I guess I was referring to this visibility and this kind of more open discussion. You look around to a lot of governments around the world, and you’re not necessarily seeing that it’s happening on that level. I guess that’s where my question was. And there’s bands of music that have helped me in my quest to find my identity and finding like-minded people or finding strength and finding a soundtrack to me trying to come to terms with myself. And if Placebo has provided that to one person, then that’s an amazing thing.

Now that you are about to release “Never Let Me Go”, what about tour dates?

Olsdal: I guess during the pandemic, we all got used to disappointment, right? And also not to expect things to be the way that you plan them to be. I think it was a big lesson for all of us. And, in a way, it was liberating. Obviously, it causes a lot of anxiety and a lot of grief and problems. But at the same time, we have to get used to the fact that we can’t just think that we can have everything the way that we want it. So, in terms of touring, we are going into rehearsals, and we’re gonna get this record right into tour. I really hope that we can. But until we step onto that stage and play, I’m not gonna believe it, you know. And I guess I’ve just got to a place where I have to manage my expectations.

So, everybody is going on tour at the same time, right? I think many bands of all genres, all styles of music, everyone that has been locked in at home is going on tour. Do you foresee that there will be a sort of “traffic jam” of musicians, everybody touring at the same time, logistics problems, things like that?

Olsdal: Yes. We’re already experiencing it, you know. And, in a way, it’s great because everyone wants to go out and play. And it’s a beautiful thing, because people really wanna go out and play and people really want to come to see the show. So, that’s great. I mean, the technical aspects, the logistics… we’ll work around it. I’m in England now. And to go on tour to Europe is not as easy as it used to be. So, there, we have more logistical issues, and with the leftovers of the pandemic, things aren’t the way that they were, you know, when we were last touring. But the thing is: that’s not the main focus. The main focus is trying to get out there. All the other stuff, it’s gonna be harder, but that’s what we got.

And this whole change in the music business: everything now is about streaming services, and most of the revenue doesn’t go to the artists. How do you feel about that?

Olsdal: It’s certainly a different landscape to what it was when we started, you know, for sure. And I don’t know if we talked too much about technology. But what we’re living through right now is a bit of a technological revolution. It’s developing at such a kind of ever-increasing speed that I don’t think we, humans, are really able to comprehend exactly what the consequences are and the price that we will pay. But certainly, some bands today and artists have to spend almost half their time creating content in order to be even heard. And sometimes, the whole format of how does a song reach an audience, it’s like there’s so much noise out there that sometimes you have to make your song explosive sonically just so people will pay attention. We’re a million light-years away from the way that you heard a song was you bought the sheet music, you know? You took it home, and you played it on the piano: we’re so far away from that, you know? So, the role the sound or the arrangement of a song has kind of crept into the picture. I mean, I have friends who have started playing the stock market to help pay the bills, you know?

So, thank you very much for this interview. It was great to talk to you. And anything else you’d like to say to your fans out there?

Olsdal: Just stay safe and take care of each other.

You can check out the singles released so far from “Never Let Me Go” below: