Labrinth was the quiet man – the mastermind producer and songwriter behind an endless stream of hit records, films and critically acclaimed TV scores. He was the golden boy, a go-to for pop stars like The Weeknd, Beyoncé, Madonna, and Rihanna. He was not someone known for making trouble. So it was a shock, earlier this year, when he posted an expletive-laden, all-caps message to Instagram announcing he was walking away from the US teen drama series Euphoria, his record label, and the entire music industry. “F*** COLUMBIA,” he wrote. “DOUBLE F*** EUPHORIA. IM OUT [sic]. THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT.”
That since-deleted post landed just a month before the much-delayed third and final season of Euphoria. The musician, real name Timothy McKenzie, had been enlisted by show creator Sam Levinson to score the first two seasons, then the third – only now Labrinth was to be joined by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. In early interviews, he seemed excited at the prospect, telling one journalist: “A lot of the compositions I’ve fallen in love with have been his, so it’s weird that I get to even just be in the presence of this scoring god.” But by April, he’d pulled his music from the show, and Zimmer received sole credit for the season three score.
If you’d been paying attention to Labrinth’s solo album Cosmic Opera Act I, released at the beginning of this year, you might have noticed allusions to his discontent long before the Instagram post. On the dark, dramatic “Implosion”, he observes in a menacing mutter: “And they mark us out of 10/ In a game we’ll never win/ Chasing all this fame/ Till we meet our bitter end.” What could he be talking about?
Labrinth laughs when I bring up those intriguing lyrics. “I was definitely in a transition period,” the 37-year-old says. “I think every artist has been in that place where they’re like, what the hell is all this? As I’m getting older, too, I feel like everything you were conditioned to find important is actually kind of stupid.” We’re meeting at a smart cocktail bar in King’s Cross. For a while, it seemed unlikely that this interview would happen – I was initially told that Labrinth was “done” talking about Euphoria, about all of it. But then he released another album, Cosmic Opera Act II, in May – four months after its predecessor – and it felt like he did, in fact, have more to say.
open image in galleryI would have understood if he were cagey from the beginning, given recent events. Instead I find him to be relaxed, upbeat, and very funny. Labrinth was raised by gospel-loving parents in Hackney with his eight siblings; he’s maintained his London cool despite flitting between here and the home he shares in LA with his wife and three children. Cool being the operative word: it’s a heatwave day, but the fashion-forward Labrinth looks effortless in an all-black ensemble and tinted shades, like a chic scientist. He’s excited at what he feels is a new era for the music industry, with fewer gatekeepers: “They were like, ‘Play ball, bitch, follow these rules…’ I think that doesn’t exist in the same way.” Now, he thinks, it’s more of an even playing field, at least in the sense that artists are freer to release music how and when they want.
open image in galleryThis was where Cosmic Opera Act I – his first solo album in three years – came in. He began writing it years ago, inspired by his love of Star Wars and composer John Barry, famed for his James Bond soundtracks: “I was always messing around with scoring, and I wanted to make a record solely on my laptop, by myself.” Clearly, he had a lot to get off his chest. His disillusionment with the industry creeps into Cosmic Opera’s jittery, ominous sound, but it is also glaringly evident in the lyrics, which call back to when he first started, and where he finds himself now. His career took off in 2010 with Tinie Tempah’s Brit Award-winning debut single “Pass Out” – which he co-wrote and produced – he was then signed to Syco, the record label owned by reality TV svengali Simon Cowell. A string of chart hits followed, from his debut solo single “Let the Sun Shine” to further Tinie collaborations, “Frisky” and “Earthquake”.
“I’ve got mad respect for the guy,” Labrinth says of Cowell. “The way he shows up [for artists] is very different to what people saw on TV. He’s got foresight – he sees potential, even if it’s something far from what he knows.”
Cowell’s gut instinct proved correct. Labrinth quickly became one of the most in-demand figures in the industry, writing songs on The Weeknd’s Grammy-nominated breakthrough Beauty Behind the Madness, and an Oscar-nominated entry on the 2019 Lion King soundtrack. Early fans likely associate him with a throbbing, synth-heavy sound – the same one he brought to the Euphoria score – but he also excels in a fragile, piano-based vulnerability. His 2014 single “Jealous” was so moving that Adele used it to make her cry while shooting her “Hello” music video. “Snot going everywhere,” she told one interviewer. “I can’t cope with that song. You could play it at my kid’s birthday and I’d burst into tears.”
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Levinson clearly recognised his talents too, inviting him to score what would become a cultural phenomenon that made Labrinth an international star along with the show’s cast – Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi. The show generated plenty of controversy for its depictions of drug use, nudity and violence, but it was praised for its acting and, of course, the music. Labrinth won an Emmy for “All of Us”, featuring vocals from Zendaya, and brought her out to great fanfare at Coachella festival in 2023.
So where did it all go wrong? He knew the question was coming, but suddenly Labrinth falters, unsure of how much to say. “I think I got tired of everything – that industry stuff we were talking about, the way people approach doing business,” he says slowly. Working on season two was also a very different experience to season one: more money, more people, more pressure. “It’s just the way everything was handled wasn’t great for me, and I got frustrated with that because I’ve seen that in music and film,” he says. “Let’s be clear, when I work for someone, I work for them, so how they want to use the music doesn’t matter.” It’s everything outside the creative process that he dislikes: “Going to an awards ceremony and everyone’s either high or s***-faced, in their suit and tie, and they’re all drained.”
open image in galleryAt the time, he meant it when he said he was quitting: “For real like, I’m finished with this s***, I’m gonna go sell coconuts in the Caribbean and never talk of being an artist again,” he says. “But I think I was very angry [about the Euphoria situation], and my wife was like, ‘Babe, just take a minute’.” He praises her for reminding him about what really matters, asking him, “‘Why do you want to be bigger?’ Like, I don’t know, because loads of people told me I should want to be bigger?!”
He’s still with his record label, but he’s not spoken with Levinson since. Interviewed by Rolling Stone, the director said he “didn’t know” what had happened and praised Labrinth as “an incredible collaborator… who really built the foundation of the sound of Euphoria.” But he added that he’d decided to take a different approach to the film’s soundtrack in season three.
open image in galleryLabrinth shrugs when I quote this back to him. “Everyone does their press run how they do it,” he says. “I’m not looking for anyone to validate what I’ve said. I’m not trying to cover anything up or save myself. I said what I said.”
There’s a song on Cosmic Opera Act II that I adore, “Bouncy Castles & Trampolines”, that expresses a yearning to get back to a more innocent time: “Whatever happened to being young and careless?/ Super Soakers and figurines/ Keep me young, please keep me dreaming.” On the same album there’s “Prostitute”, containing the lyrics: “Money on the dresser/ I’m a prostitute/ No Vaseline/ This is how they do.” He giggles when I tell him that lyric made me shudder. His wife had the same reaction: “That’s how visceral it is, though, right?” he asks. “We’re literally being pimped out by the same people supposed to [help] us.”
We’re literally being pimped out by the same people supposed to [help] us
He planned on taking a break, but there’s no way he can sit still for long. He keeps a Korg synthesiser next to his bed. “I keep creating projects that I’m excited about, and there’s the same old big s*** – collaborations, whatever,” he says. “I feel very focused on making something that feels meaningful to me.” He still wants to see change in the industry, a world where artists make things and collaborate for the fun of it, not because they’re trying to further their own careers. “We need to rewire the way artists even think about all of this,” he says. “Everyone’s thinking about how to turn themselves into a franchise or a legacy, turning their passion into a business. If you made no money off this, would you still want to do it? You need to ask every artist that question.” But I don’t need to ask Labrinth that. I already know the answer.
‘Cosmic Opera Act II’ is out now