Veteran producer and songwriter, King Henry (Henry Allen) knows what it takes to create a hit. Known for his chart-topping work with Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and The Weeknd, Allen is notably credited with shaping the careers of LANY and Sasha Sloan, acting as an executive producer with each artist to develop their indelible sound and style. In addition to his work for other artists, Allen marked the return of his King Henry project last fall with “Let Go”.
Following a busy 2021, which included the release of a handful of new singles and remixes, most recently “It’s Not U,” in November, King Henry is now getting ready to kickstart his new year with more new music. His latest single, “Fall With Me” featuring Delilah Montagu is a perfect teaser of his upcoming EP, featuring raw, emotional vocals, a simplistic, driving drumbeat, and dreamy synth. For the new project, Allen set out with a goal to make something more organic and accessible, yet still very iconically King Henry.
We caught up with Allen to chat about the new single, the upcoming EP and plans for 2022 ahead of the release. Read the full interview below, and listen to “Fall With Me” featuring Delilah Montagu when it is out on February 18th.
Prelude Press: You are just getting ready to kick off your 2022 with the release of your new single, “Fall With Me” featuring Delilah Montagu! Can you tell us a little bit about the track?
King Henry: Delilah and I wrote this a few years back and she’s been in London ever since then, and I’ve been between Los Angeles and Nashville. We kept in touch since then and always would talk about how much we loved the song but had never found the right home for it. After recently chatting again we decided why not just release it ourselves since we loved it so much. I revisited the production to give it a fresh set of ears and found the perfect sweet spot for it to live in both of our sonic worlds.
How did your collaboration and Delilah first come about?
I met Delilah back in 2017 when she was on a trip from London to LA and we ended up in a write. I had been sent some songs prior to meeting her and was blown away by her writing and voice so I knew we would do something special. We wrote a few songs that year and one of those was “Fall With Me,” a song that was very near and dear to me at the time and still is, as it was a pivotal moment in my life that we were able to write about.
The song is also taken from your upcoming EP – what can you tell us about the upcoming release?
To be honest this EP has been something I’ve been wanting to release for over a year now I bet. This will be the first release and what I’m trying to do is create more of an organic sound while also writing amazing songs with some great collaborators. I think this first single is a great display of where I want the direction of the EP to go; easy listening but at the same time very much in line with some of my other releases. I think fans will find this resembles “Never Give Up” and “Remember” in a lot of ways, which have been some of my favorite releases in the last year or two.
What are you excited for fans to hear on the EP?
I think what I most want people to focus on for this EP is the organic feel to the records. I have always been someone who incorporates a lot of instruments in my music but to be honest this first single feels so raw – the vocals from Delilah are actually the same vocals we first had when we wrote the song a few years ago. I think the signature King Henry sound comes from a mixture of synths and very accessible sounds; I do want to make sure all of my music can be appreciated by a ton of different people.
You’ve done a ton of work over the years writing for and producing other artists – do you find that you have to step into a different mindset when you’re working on your own music?
It’s more of the opposite, actually. It’s always been more fun and easier to focus on my own projects and work on everything that I do for myself than work with other artists. There are exceptions to this for sure, and those are usually the artists I love working with most; when I can get in the studio with an artist and express to them how I’m feeling, and they are feeling similarly. That has always resulted in the best music being made. With my own music, not only do I get to tell my own stories, but I also get to play around with ideas that I don’t always get to try when I’m working with other people. It’s always refreshing to do something new and people like it; and in the same vein it’s always nice to know when some people don’t like something I’ve done (haha).
Do you feel that you’re harder on yourself when working on personal projects? Or does it give you the chance to let loose and experiment a bit?
For sure. It’s almost impossible not to overthink things as an artist. I do feel a lot of sympathy for artists who go through the same thing; it’s not easy. As I mentioned, it’s really fun experimenting and trying new things, but it can be tough sometimes when people don’t react in a way I thought they would to a song. By no means does that ever discourage me from working on new and exciting ideas, it probably challenges me more to try and think outside the box.
Is there anyone that you’d want to be able to work with or collaborate with on a personal project? Anyone currently inspiring you?
There’s too many to count to be honest, but I’ve always loved what Jamie xx has done in his career. He’s always pushing boundaries and keeping things interesting. Nate Ruess has always been a big inspiration of mine too, especially from his days with The Format. Songwriting has always been super important to me and he’s arguably one of the best to ever do it.
When can fans expect to hear some more new music?
Happy to say I have another single coming in April, and two more tracks coming a few weeks later to round out the first EP of the year. After that, you can expect some more summer-type records and songs to come out. I really like the idea of releasing music for every season and this year I really want to do that, so it’s a lot of music coming! Plus, there will be some remixes for other artists and some remixes of my own work coming out sprinkled in!
Thank you for taking the time to chat! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you as well! Nothing much to add, other than I couldn’t be more excited to get some music out to everyone. There’s no doubt I am always trying to create music that inspires people and if you feel that’s happening to you when you’re listening, let me know! I always love hearing from people who enjoy the music 🙂
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