I remember first hearing World News — it felt like I’d been listening to them all along. The band has a sound that is often praised for its duality: perfectly original yet strangely familiar. They had a quiet start to the year, but as anyone familiar with World News has come to know, “quiet” hardly ever means “inactive.” Last month, they came back alive with “Don’t Want To Know,” a song that cracked the door to their debut album, due out this very year.

Recently, frontman Alex Evans was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the history of World News and everything the band’s had going on as of late.

YY: “World News’ debut came out of their lowest point.” The COVID era shuttered longtime indie venues, killed off countless bands still in their early stages, and completely changed the musical landscape for a time. But World News survived it all. How do you think your beginnings might have been different had the disillusionment and heartbreak not fueled much of your early work? What did you learn from essentially starting the band on hard mode?

AE: It was tough navigating that period. We had all of those songs recorded for the “Job and Money” EP, and we managed to get the first two singles out before lockdown hit. We had built up a momentum that came to a grinding halt. I remember we were all very disappointed, and there was an element of, "What’s next for World News?" But in the end, we used all of that free time to practise and write. There was nothing else to do, and it was the best way to spend the time. As a result, some great tunes were written. Stuff that we're all really proud of, so it wasn't all doom and gloom.

Your new single, “Don’t Want To Know,” came out of a similarly dark headspace. Does the creative process help to move past bad experiences, or are they just a muse?

Yeah I find writing music very therapeutic. Even though I was in a dark space at the time of writing it, it helped with moving through it.

Much of the recent coverage for the new single and its accompanying video signals that World News has come into its own, solidifying and expanding upon a “signature jangly, hook-driven sound.” What went into cultivating this sound, or did it just find its way there?

I don't think we have ever gone, "We need to sound like this, or that.” The sound of World News for me is just the four of us playing together. Everyone has got their individual style on their respected instruments, and the sound has formed over the years of just playing together.

I remember in the early days we used to go, "That was a great gig," and recently I watched some footage from that era, and we actually sounded bloody terrible haha. A lot of the songs are very guitar-driven, so I would say my particular style of playing, which is completely unorthodox, plays a big part in our sound. It's the same with Rory's bass style and Jack's guitar style. We're not formally trained, we just play the way that we play.

A good bit of praise for World News likens your music to “throwback indie rock” and ‘80s college radio, rejecting claims that “jangly, bittersweet indie-pop” is a thing of the past. What might you say about World News’ relevance today, and what about your music do you think sets it apart from past eras?

I would say we don't really think too much about that kind of thing. We just make music for the fun of it, and if our music can connect with people and make them feel something then that's all that matters to us. I have found it's best not to compare old and new.

According to a piece of your bio, World News is “committed to a fiercely independent DIY ethos.” The new single is also out on your own label – what more can you say about your DIY philosophy? Why is being a true indie band important to you?

Big up Pie & Mash Records. We have been self-releasing for years now and gotten to a point where everyone in the band has certain roles which range from organising PR, marketing, booking gigs, recording sessions, mixing and mastering, logos, merch, and so many other things. We have learnt to do all of this stuff ourselves and it seems to finally be paying off.

Anything we can't do ourselves we outsource, and that's also super important to realise when you need help, otherwise the results may not be so great. Big up our good pal Ted AKA @iilives (Instagram).

“Don’t Want To Know” marks the start of the buildup to your debut album. What more can we expect from this album? What should listeners keep in mind going into its release?

The album is well underway. People can expect the usual World News jangly sound, but there are going to be post-punk and progressive rock elements to it as well. Our sound seems to be evolving.

Aside from your debut album and the European tour, what else is in store for the band in the near future?

Well we've got some exciting shows coming up. We're playing Moth Club on the 25th September which will be mega. We'd love to be able to tour all over the world, so we're currently looking into ways of making this possible. This is probably quite far down the line though. The near future is just us hunkering down over at RAK studios and getting the album recorded with our guy Tommy Bosustow producing and engineering (he's really bloody good and a great bloke).