Young Fathers Share Another Cocoa Sugar Single, “Toy”

Cocoa Sugar, the much-anticipated third album from Young Fathers, is due out in a little more than a week on March 9, and the Mercury Prize winners have shared a third (and likely final) taste of their forthcoming album, the menacing and mercurial “Toy.”

“Toy” begins with a single, Blade Runner-esque sound-wave before incorporating a frantic backbeat, a sinister synth drone and Alloysious Massaquoi’s ferocious vocals. “I’m the man who’s gonna play it for keeps,” he insists, going on to taunt, “You’re just a broken little toy / a silly little boy.” The complex, confident track refuses to remain static for more than few measures at a time, building up and breaking down like a living thing. Here, Young Fathers allude to their roots while continuing to conjure a mind-boggling new vision.

“Toy” follows previous Cocoa Sugar singles “In My View” and “Lord.” Young Fathers first released the latter track last October, revealing in an Instagram post, “We’ve just finished a new album, and it’s about fucking time.” The band’s last album was 2015’s acclaimed White Men Are Black Men Too, which was in turn preceded by their Mercury Prize-winning 2014 debut DEAD.

If “Toy” is any indication, the long lay-off has done absolutely nothing to dull Young Fathers’ confidence. Theirs is shaping up to be an utterly triumphant return.

Listen to “Toy” and Young Fathers’ 2014 Daytrotter Session below. You can revisit the details of Cocoa Sugar here and preorder the album here.