There is a strange irony in calling an album ‘WILDCHILD’ when its story is, at its core, about growing up.
For Alex Warren, the word carries a meaning far more personal than its rebellious connotations might initially suggest. It was the nickname his late father gave him as a child – a small, affectionate name that has followed Warren into adulthood and now gives his second album its title. On ‘WILDCHILD’, out now via Atlantic Records, Warren turns that childhood moniker into something much bigger: a meditation on loss, love, family, healing and the person he has become.
It’s this that makes ‘WILDCHILD’ a particularly revealing second act.
Alex Warren arrives here having experienced the kind of breakthrough most artists spend years chasing. His 2025 debut, ‘You’ll Be Alright, Kid’, established him as a global pop force, propelled in no small part by ‘Ordinary’ – a song that became a chart-topping phenomenon and transformed Warren’s career almost overnight. The sophomore album therefore comes with an obvious expectation: replicate the success.
Instead, Warren seems far more interested in examining what happened after it.
Across 13 tracks and just under 39 minutes, ‘WILDCHILD’ moves between sweeping pop, intimate songwriting and more playful, dance-oriented production. Its track-list – from ‘EMERALD EYES’ and ‘PASSENGER’ to ‘FINE PLACE TO DIE’, ‘I MISS YOU MORE’ and the closing title track – suggests an album comfortable occupying several emotional spaces at once.
That contrast is essential to understanding the record.
There is grief here, certainly, but ‘WILDCHILD’ isn’t an album that wants to stay in mourning. Warren repeatedly pulls toward joy, romance and movement. The darkness and the light aren’t opposing forces; they exist alongside one another. The result is a record that seems less concerned with the neat resolution of grief than with accepting that happiness and sadness can occupy the same room.
‘EMERALD EYES’ makes that point particularly vividly. Featuring legendary guitarist Nile Rodgers, the disco-tinged track injects a burst of funk into the album, giving Warren space to celebrate love and exuberance rather than simply reflecting on what he has lost. Rodgers’ presence also signals Warren’s willingness to stretch beyond the emotional-pop template that made him a household name.
Then there is ‘WILDCHILD’ itself.
The album’s closing track strips away much of the grandeur and leaves Warren with something considerably more intimate. His father’s voice appears through a recording, asking him: “Are you having fun, Alex?” The question lands with particular force after an album spent contemplating loss and the complicated process of moving forward.
It is also where John Mayer enters the story.
Mayer contributes guitar to the title track, but this is no arbitrary superstar collaboration. Warren has spoken about his father being a huge Mayer fan, making the musician’s appearance an intensely personal tribute. Warren’s father died when he was nine, meaning the collaboration effectively creates a musical connection between the child he was, the father he lost and the artist he has become.
That makes Mayer’s presence feel less like a marquee feature and more like part of the album’s emotional architecture.
It is a distinction worth making because ‘WILDCHILD’ is full of moments where Warren’s personal history threatens to overwhelm the pop machinery around it. Rather than hiding behind polished production, he repeatedly allows the circumstances of his life to become part of the music itself. His father’s voice isn’t simply referenced; it is brought into the record.
The result is an album that feels like an attempt to have a conversation with the past.
That conversation also changes the meaning of Warren’s extraordinary rise. The story surrounding ‘Ordinary’ was one of sudden success: a young singer-songwriter moving from internet fame into the upper reaches of mainstream pop. ‘WILDCHILD’ asks a more interesting question – what does an artist actually do with that success once the novelty wears off?
Warren’s answer appears to be: look inward.
The four songs released ahead of the album – ‘Fever Dream’, ‘Fine Place To Die’, ‘Passenger’ and ‘Rescuer’ – offered increasingly different glimpses of that world. ’Passenger’ brings a lighter, more immediate energy, while ‘Fine Place To Die’ embraces darker emotional territory. ‘Rescuer’ returns to the language of devotion and connection. Together, they established an album that refuses to be defined by one mood.
And that may ultimately be the most important distinction between ‘WILDCHILD’ and the album that preceded it. Warren doesn’t appear to be trying to make another ‘Ordinary’ – simply because he doesn’t need to.
The first album introduced the world to Alex Warren the breakout star. ‘WILDCHILD’ is interested in Alex Warren the person – the son, husband, songwriter and survivor trying to reconcile the life he has with the people and experiences that shaped him.
That gives the album its emotional centre.
There is something almost beautifully circular about the decision to end the record with his father’s voice asking whether he is having fun. Warren began this story as the “wild child” his father saw in him; he arrives at its conclusion as an adult who has experienced extraordinary success and profound loss, still trying to answer the same question.
Perhaps that is what growing up actually looks like.
Not leaving the wild child behind, but learning how to carry him with you.
On ‘WILDCHILD’, Warren does exactly that.
‘WILDCHILD’ is out everywhere now.
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