Teddy Swims has announced his second album, UGLY, arriving January 22 via Warner Records. Written over the past 15 months following the birth of his son, the album finds Swims reflecting on growth, self-forgiveness and the pressures of becoming both a partner and a father. Alongside the announcement, he has shared “Perfect Man”, a new single about the impossible standards we set for ourselves and learning to find strength in our imperfections.
“Perfect Man” begins as an orchestral piano ballad before building into a warm, full-band arrangement with soulful backing vocals. Swims describes the song as being about self-forgiveness, admitting that he has held himself to unrealistic standards in his personal and professional life. Its accompanying performance video features Swims with his band and backing singers, plus a four-piece string section and four-piece horn section, with the singer dressed in a deliberately tattered white pinstriped suit.
The single follows “Break Up in Reverse”, which arrived with a video depicting Swims singing as a bulldozer moving in reverse reconstructs a domestic scene that has fallen apart. The new album follows a major year for the singer, who completed a sold-out global tour, earned his second career GRAMMY nomination and saw his Diamond-certified hit “Lose Control” spend 112 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running song in the chart’s history.
UGLY is available to pre-order now, while “Perfect Man” is out on all streaming platforms.
