MNEK Is Betting on Himself With ‘Bulldozer!!’: ‘An Album That Only I Can Make’

There’s seemingly no end to MNEK’s drive or creative reserves; over the past decade, the London singer, songwriter and producer’s fingerprints have been everywhere in modern pop and R&B, even when his name hasn’t. The 31-year-old’s dedicated ‘Written By’ playlist on Spotify paints the picture of a studio auteur who has built a career around extreme multifacetedness: He’s penned tracks for cultural behemoths Beyoncé (“Hold Up”) and BTS (“Paradise”), as well as U.K. No. 1 hits for Dua Lipa (“IDGAF”) and Little Mix (“Sweet Melody”).  

Known for his abrasive-yet-glossy futurism equally as much as his ear for house-pop heaters, there have been co-writes with Madonna and a wealth of British dance supernovas (Becky Hill, Joel Corry). More recently, he helped revitalize close collaborator Zara Larsson’s career with his work on the singer’s celestial slow-burn mega-hit “Midnight Sun” and her verse on the remix of PinkPantheress’ “Stateside,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 in March.

MNEK was just 14 when a set of vibrant, self-produced MySpace demos landed him his first publishing deal in 2009. Since then, he’s rarely been far from the centre of the pop cosmos; with his sophomore LP, Bulldozer!!, released this September, he turns that decade-plus of experience back on himself. The follow-up to 2018’s Language, the album takes in the invincible highs and lonely comedowns of partying, body image, the Wild West of dating apps and his conflicted relationship with the U.S. It’s a portrait of a life lived both inside and adjacent to the industry, sticking proudly to a dancefloor-based mood with decadent tropical flourishes and skittering tempo switch-ups.

“I feel like there is no limit to where my music could go,” MNEK tells Billboard U.K., speaking over a video call from his home studio. “I can only worry about what my music makes me feel, and what the emotion I want people to feel is when they hear my music, whether that be happy and euphoric or sassy and confident.”

That freedom feels pertinent this time around. Language fell considerably short of commercial expectations, missing the Billboard 200 entirely and also failing to make a dent in the U.K. top 40. MNEK responded to the news with a series of since-deleted social media posts, saying that he was “a bit gutted, kinda f–ked it” and reflecting on the difficulty of making the leap to solo artist. Speaking today, he says releasing Bulldozer!! “feels emotionally lighter” in part because there’s less stress attached to where the songs might land.

“And there’s no game playing on this album,” he says. “I feel like it’s an album that only I can make, which I’m really proud of.”

Below, he talks more about his sophomore album, and about which artists on the U.K. pop scene he currently finds inspiring.

Eight years is a long time between albums. What changed internally for you to be ready to release another body of solo work?

I think enough time has passed. This was about me just rebuilding my confidence after the last album, and a lot of that was through just continuing to make music in the process, whether it be my own music or exec-producing other projects. I was doing FLO’s first album [2024’s Access All Areas] and Midnight Sun for Zara [Larsson], and those had my attention for a hot minute while I was just figuring out what I wanted to do next.

You mention wanting to rebuild your confidence with this album. What experiences did you need to live first? 

I just needed a bit of an ego death. I also needed time to just not be working. At that point, I’d been working for the entirety of my teens and then the first half of my 20s, and I think I was a bit burnt out, but I didn’t know how to verbalize it. That was a real watershed moment where I was like,”‘Oh, I actually need to separate myself from this work, or even give the person outside of this a chance to breathe.”

There’s been a lot of just growing that has come with age. I was 23 when Language came out, and even younger when I was writing it. So I think with this new album, I’m definitely coming at things with a more rounded sense of self.

What did recovering from burnout look like in practice?It meant changing the way I worked, and having a sense of consistency and routine with the people I was working with and also just within myself. I had to start giving myself some structure and things to look forward to in the day, and then I focused on travelling and seeing a bit more of the world without the guise of work. This new album does have songs that talk about relationships, but so much of it is me talking to myself and trying to hype myself up or push through whatever adversity I’m going through in the lyrics.

The title Bulldozer!! screams force, momentum, taking up space. When did you realize that was the energy you wanted to roll with for the album?

It’s funny, because when I was writing the songs, all of them threw up themes of self-exploration — not wanting to be put in a box, wanting to exceed expectations, taking up space, etc. Those are all the keywords that were coming up during the writing process, and when the word “bulldozer” came to my desk, it brought a visceral reaction out of me, it almost made me feel uncomfortable.

Is there any significance in having the exclamation marks in the song titles?

Yeah, for sure. This is my second album, so there’s two exclamation marks, and overall I feel like there’s a sense of me wanting to be heard within the music — so it’s just exclaiming everything twice as much as the last time!

On “California” you ask, “why does the dream have to be so American?” How has your relationship with America changed over the years, and why does it still appeal to you to work and thrive out there?

That’s a good question. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with LA in particular because that’s been the main mecca of music for me. I’ve been going there for the past 15 years, and it’s only in the past few years where I’ve developed a love for it enough to live there. “California” is a song that I got sent by Ragz Originale, and it’s an idea that he’d started, and I just resonated with the feeling of it so much because it was what I was going through. I was kind of in between London and LA, and just thinking, “Oh, do I want to move here full time?” 

It just made me think that there’s a ceiling a lot of Black creatives find when it comes to being in the U.K., in that there’s only so far they can go until they are forced to go to somewhere where the scope is bigger. I guess this song speaks to that from a selfish point of view, but I think there’s a lot of people that will relate to that feeling: “OK, I’m outgrowing the system. I want to be larger than life, but then the system wants me to be small — so I need to go somewhere else and see what is there for me.”

Do you think British artists still feel they need to “make it” in America to be seen as successful, or is that starting to change?

We’re in a world where monoculture is dying, and it’s become a thing where you can really be fruitful in your niche as opposed to being concerned with widespread acclaim. It’s undeniable that there are fruits that come with being successful in America: It’s a larger place, it’s more lucrative, and there’s a bigger scope of people. I think the worst thing you can do is just limit yourself and say, “No, I won’t go there.” It should be more about seeing what you’re capable of.

Are there any U.K. acts smashing it globally right now that you find really inspiring?

I love PinkPantheress, she’s great. The FLO ladies, of course. I love how they’ve been able to thrive globally. RAYE is a superstar. I think it’s to each their own, in what actually makes a song successful enough to be globally accepted? Because there’s so many songs – like “Stateside” – that you hear and you’re like, “That’s really British, how is that going to be understood by an American?” But it then becomes a hit just as big as most American songs.

In the album’s press materials, you mention how audiences turning up for you, especially in the U.S., gave you confidence in what you’d made with Language. With everything you’ve done since, what feels validating to you now?

Well, it’s an interesting one, right? Because I think that it’s obviously really nice selling a lot of records and earning certifications, awards and industry love; like, all that stuff is great, but it actually can feel really hollow without [support from] the actual people.

I’ve had songs that are No. 1 hits but the measure of success for me is when my friends or people that I respect, or that I don’t even talk to every day, find it in their heart to text me and be like, “That song is really good.” The intentionality is what I always adhere to. It’s a huge deal.

I feel that way about music now. With “Midnight Sun” from Zara, for instance, that was a song that had been out for a year and has not been nearly as successful as it is right now. But I was getting texts from all types of people being like, “That ‘Midnight Sun’ song is amazing,” in a way that I’ve never received from other songs before. And that’s when I feel like, “Oh OK, this music talks to people. People really like this. It’s not just been force-fed to them.” It’s been so moving to see.

You’ve previously talked about how seeing people show up to your headline gigs, especially in the U.S., gave you confidence in what you made with Language. With everything you’ve done since, where does your sense of validation come from now?

Well, it’s an interesting one, right? It’s obviously really nice selling a lot of records, and earning certifications, awards, industry love and number one singles is great, but it can feel really hollow without the actual people. I’ve worked on No. 1 hits, but the measure of success for me is when my friends or people that I respect find it in their heart to text me and be like, “That song is really good.”

Like, even when I was saying that quote about people coming out to see me perform, it was about the idea of someone leaving the house and paying money to come and see me sing – that’s amazing! You think it’s really small, but it’s a huge deal. There’s only 24 hours in a day, and someone wants to spend a couple of them with you. 

With “Midnight Sun” from Zara, for instance, that was a song that had been out for a year and has not been nearly as successful as it is right now. But I was getting texts from all types of people being like, “That ‘Midnight Sun’ song is amazing,” in a way that I’ve never received from other songs before, and that’s when I feel like, ‘Oh OK, this music talks to people. People really like this. It’s not just been force-fed to them.’ It’s been so moving to see.

With Language, you were very self‑aware, even humorous, about its modest commercial response. How did that experience shape how you approach releasing music now?

Yeah, it put me off making music for myself because it’s extremely vulnerable and scary when you [pauses]… It’s almost like being told “no” or being rejected when something doesn’t go well. But my perspective on it has changed. It’s about paying attention to those who are listening, as opposed to those who aren’t – that’s what I really care about.

I want to feed the people who are waiting to hear this album and everyone else will follow. I feel like people who are fans of me are very smart, and that’s a nice feeling. When we get into the wild west of pop music we’re now having to deal with all types of levels of candour, intellect and taste!

Do you think the album has aged better than its initial reception suggested?

I still get messages from people who say they listen to Language, which is a nice feeling. It was very of its time, but I feel like my references are very broad. But I’m glad people still enjoy that record.

I don’t want to wait another eight years until I release another album after [Bulldozer!!]. I want to keep writing and producing produce for the people I work with but I want there to be more of an equilibrium; a steadier pace of releasing music and focusing on the relationship with my fanbase that I’m building right now.