Hailing from an unknown location, the anonymous band 4 Minutes Later delivers on their promise as they release their latest ballad and accompanying lyric video, "Grace."
While the band formed in 2018, their venture began through a simple yet highly effective tweet, "music coming soon." No photos, no members, no location, 4 Minutes Later's tweet saw vast attention after #WhoIs4ML trended across the UK, USA, and Mexico. Now totaling over 1M streams to date, 4 Minutes Later is one step closer to breaking free from anonymity.
4 Minutes Later recently released their emotional and relatable single, "Grace," with an accompanying, well-edited lyric video. While the lead vocalist serenades us with the depths of his emotion and power, the modern and unique sonics pour through our speakers while leaving us in a profoundly intriguing trance.
Watching the lyric video for "Grace," the journey begins with the band's spaceship logo on an old TV. After transitioning into a shakey and old-school film visual, the lead vocalist starts pouring his heart out while the video tracks his lyricism in a stunning cursive font. As he brings listeners deep into the song's concept with his saddening lyricism, the instrumentals begin to expand and develop into a powerful and compelling atmosphere.
While the lead vocalist touches on themes of a tragic breakup, he hits us over the head with poetic and emotional lyrics like, "You talk about places that you used to go, people and faces you no longer know, it's a matter of time until that face is mine." As the instrumentals and sonics grow into a mighty soundscape, the accompanying background vocals offer all the soul and passion one can find during these unpredictable times.
Keep up with the anonymous band 4 Minutes Later on all digital streaming platforms, and allow their single, "Grace," to remind you of the inner strength we all possess.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, 4 Minutes Later. We can't get enough of the aching emotion within your recent single, "Grace." How did the inspiration for this emotional and passionate single come about?
Hey! Thanks for having us! This song was kind of a natural progression for us, we don't like to repeat ourselves and always like to push ourselves into unfamiliar territories to see if we can rise to the challenge. We have done a bunch of "typical pop" songs which we are super proud of but we wanted to do something rawer and more personal. We work with an amazing team in the studio and they had brainstormed this haunting sort of vibe and it really just made me want to tell the story of watching my grandmother go through Alzheimer's disease. Coincidentally, two of us have had a grandparent go through this so it was easy to feel connected to this story and tell it authentically. Alzheimer's is a really horrible disease especially for the ones around the person with it, you essentially have to watch the one you love become a ghost to their former self until they are a stranger to you and you are one to them. We really hope to see some more research for this disease and education around it as words really can't put it into perspective how horrible it is. No one should have to go through it!
Does your group usually release such emotional and personal tracks like "Grace?" Or is this your first time around creating something so passionate and deep?
We don't really like the term "usual", as 4ML as a whole is meant to be unusual. Coming from the sense that we are going to challenge you on what you may think we are, and how you may define us musically or any other way! When we write a song, we like to stay in the moment and not think about any other factors. We have released more personal tracks before such as "Troubled" which is about struggling with mental health. However, Grace does feel a little more vulnerable due to music being a little more stripped-down, with that ballad-esque feel. There are more nerves involved when it is something so personal. You are giving people a look into something that truly hurts you to the core. We write songs for ourselves first and foremost but it is always nice when it is received well amongst our friends and family, and we hope that our music can find the people who can connect with it the most! We have really tried to dig a bit deeper with our next bodies of work and have a few more tricks up our sleeves to push ourselves. We have an amazing team both in and out of the studio and they are really helping us rise to the occasion. When you surround yourself with talented people you sometimes are lucky enough to have a bit of their knowledge rub off on you. If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.
What significance and role does the old-timey feel of your lyric video for "Grace" play when comparing it to the song itself? How does the lyric video emphasize the song's theme and concept?
Looking at the lyric video, it wasn't necessarily about an "old-time film" feel as much as it was about the footage starting to distort, break down, and deteriorate. Which matches what feels like is happening to the brain of our loved ones whose memories are slowly disappearing and forgetting who they are. We decided to go with the cursive writing as we found it matched the elegance and haunted-ness of the music over something bold and in your face that you see in our upbeat lyric videos. Lastly, we tried to keep the visuals more simple than we have with previous lyric videos to put more of an emphasis on the lyrics to tell the story.
For readers who are as curious as we are, could you give us any hints about where or when you might break free from anonymity? Have you made any plans for this event?
We have made plans for this, which also means we have had a recent photoshoot! It's a really exciting time in the 4ML universe with many irons in the fire and without giving away too much it will be sooner than most would think! One other thing is that 4ML is, and will always be about the music first, so you can count on us to somehow involve the music with our reveal. This is something we are super excited about, to be able to connect with our listeners on a whole new level and have new forms of creating content that wasn't possible for us up to this point!
What's next for you?
Music, music, and more music. We are finishing off our next complete body of work and it is feeling really good. When it is safe to do so we would love to hit the road and personally thank everyone who has supported us by putting on a hell of a show!