After teasing the announcement for several months with the release of two deeply personal singles, “If I Ever” and “By Your Side,” pop star Conor Maynard has announced ‘+11 Hours,’ out June 9th, 2023. Featuring fiercely personal songwriting and a new confidence found touring the world, Maynard’s ‘+11 Hours’ marks a creative turning point, as he lets the abundant skills of his youth blossom and steer him into new directions of artistry and creativity. The project was inspired by a difficult breakup he went through late last year, with a girl, he revealed, from Sydney, Australia, where the time zone is +11 hours from the UK.
To celebrate the release, Maynard has shared the project’s latest single “Storage,” a classic Maynard-style ballad about the way memories change after a relationship falls apart. “Storage is about having the capacity to contain various, irrelevant but ultimately incredible, personal and beautiful memories when you're in a relationship,” he explains. “Once that ends, your brain holds all of the information and fixates on those tiny little things that didn't really make a difference at the time, but now all they do is consume your so-called 'storage' of your brain. Just as an iPhone would 'run out of storage' when keeping meaningless little pictures over the years, the concept is the same for one’s brain.”
Watch the visualizer for "Storage" by Conor Maynard
The announcement follows the release of “By Your Side,” a dynamic pop single that channels the frantic experience of watching a relationship come to an end that you so badly don’t want to let go of. The song was Maynard’s message to his fans who reached out to him in the wake of the breakup and his disappearance from social media, which he chronicled for SPIN Magazine, as he took time to heel and reflect on his experience.
“I received a lot of messages when I came back online, from fans and even just people that related to the feeling of wanting to take a break from the pressures of social media,” Maynard recalled. “I realized just how many people have been through a similar notion, even when the circumstances that have led to that decision are different. For that reason, I kept the lyrics of ‘By Your Side’ a little more open, so it can be interpreted to fit all different types of relationship; romantic, friendships, family, and all different reasons for letting go, whether it be through just going your separate ways, or in the hardest of scenarios, death.”
The first song Maynard released from the project, “If I Ever,” explores trust and suspicion in relationships and the different outcomes that they each can lead to. “‘If I Ever’ is the first of a series of songs I wrote about an extremely difficult breakup I went through last year,” Maynard shared upon its release. “It was a unique relationship and hard to write about, because 90% of it took place over phone calls and video calls, which I understand was common during the pandemic. This song captures my emotional experience following that breakup, and the anticipation I continue to feel about my upcoming appearance in her hometown of Sydney, Australia, since in our last conversation, she told me she still hopes to see me there.”
Maynard rose to fame in 2012 when he won MTV's Brand New for 2012 award, competing alongside Delilah, Michael Kiwanuka, Lana Del Rey, and Lianne La Havas. He was signed to Parlophone and became one of the first home-grown talents to transition from online to IRL pop-stardom, proving the power of digital audiences while breaking new ground for countless other upcoming artists. He earned the mentorship of Ne-Yo and then exploded with his debut album ‘Contrast,’ which reached #1 and produced 5 Top Ten singles. The album catapulted him to international stardom, with his YouTube channel alone boasting 13.3 million subscribers and 2.5 billion views. World tours, awards, and collaborations with major artists followed, including Pharrell Williams, The Invisible Men and Rita Ora. Maynard even starred in the Broadway show Kinky Boots, showcasing another side to his multi-faceted talent.
But 10 years after the debut album that changed his life, Maynard realized it was time for him to go at it alone. He left his label and took his career to new and unchartered heights, racking up over 300 million streams in 2021 alone, without any major player backing. It takes his worldwide reach to a staggering scale: Spotify streams of his music surpassed 2 billion, and he quickly become the 7th most followed TikTok music account in the UK, despite only joining the platform in 2020. The decision also allowed him to bring his music to new, adventurous heights, with a sense of artistic liberation lying at the heart of his new material.
Maynard will continue to release material from this new era of creativity throughout 2023. Stay tuned for continued updates.
‘+11 Hours’ by Conor Maynard
1. Intro
2. If I Ever
3. By Your Side
4. Storage
5. Enemies
6. How Am I
7. Dark Side
8. I’m Here Forever
9. A Different Way
10. Outro
