Jake Bugg is embracing pop after he "turned [his] nose up a little bit" at chart music.
The 26-year-old musician – who was often compared to Bob Dylan at the start of his career – has been working on modernising his sound after signing to Sony’s RCA Records in 2019.
And he’s revealed he’s been working with Steve Mac – the man behind hits for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Pink, Westlife and Little Mix – on new tunes.
Speaking on Jessie Ware’s ‘Table Manners’ podcast, he admitted: "I have kind of always turned my nose up a little bit at a lot of pop music but as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more open-minded.
"Something I wanted to achieve with this record is to start working with people more in the pop world and to try and make my sound a little more modern with production and things.
"So working with Steve (Mac) was a different experience for me, but one that I really enjoyed."
Fans will get to see what he’s working on soon, with the first song with Steve, ‘All I Need’, to be released next.
He added: "I think the next one I release will be one I did with Steve, it’s called ‘All I Need’."
Jake released ‘Kiss Like The Sun’ in November, which he worked on with Post Malone producer Andrew Watt.
And the ‘Two Fingers’ hitmaker is gearing up for his fifth studio album, the follow-up to 2017’s ‘Hearts That Strain’, which featured the track ‘Waiting’, a duet with Noah Cyrus.
Speaking previously of his new direction, the ‘Lightning Bolt’ hitmaker said: "There’ll be less guitars. I can write slow, ballady songs all day, but I’m trying to keep it up tempo.
"’Kiss Like The Sun’ is light-hearted and I want this record to be more fun. I want something modern and current, but with my DNA and voice in there."
Jake also teamed up with dance duo Camelphat on ‘Be Someone’ last year, and admitted he was shocked by how "supportive" the electronic world was compared to the guitar world.
The ‘Rabbit Hole’ star described the latter as "egotistical and competitive".
He said: "I was taken aback by how supportive the electronic world is of one another. Everyone has each other’s back, whereas in the guitar world it gets more egotistical and competitive. I said a few bitchy things when I was younger, as sometimes we’ve let our ego get hold of us. That’s silly – we should be supportive."