TEED's New Album was Inspired by Trump and Climate Crisis

When Orlando Higginbottom (otherwise known as Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) sat down to map out his newest album, he did so by emotion and mood rather than genre. TEED’s long-awaited sophomore album, When the Lights Go, shows an artist purposefully navigating the music industry and the turbulences of modern life.

“This record is made up of songs ranging from sad to feverish – at least, that’s how I hear the emotions in my head,” Higginbottom said in a recent interview with MusicTech. The album orbits an array of inspirations – not all of them positive. From the dread of parenting through climate change to the chaos of living in LA during Trump’s presidency, TEED distills his worries and personal experiences into his melodies.

“'Blood on the Snow' was the first song I released from this record and is very literally about the idea of having a child in this era of climate chaos,” he said. “I would like to have children but also this threat makes it seem so terrifying.”

Originally hailing from Oxford, TEED is now based in the States and recalls the daily chaos of Trump’s America and its potential influence on the album.

“At the time I was making this record, I felt like the whole of America had its head in its hands because of him,” he told MusicTech. “I remember speaking to my friends in England. They would be laughing but I always said, ‘This is coming your way.’ Having Trump talk every day was awful and caused so much pain. I’m sure that has seeped into the record.”

But through it all, When the Lights Go is a buoyant synth-pop record about yearning for love in a turbulent world. And though Higginbottom may still see it as “a doomy record,” When the Lights Go invites listeners to dance through the pain, even if it is towards poignant despair.