Xander Corbett has broken his hiatus with a project that feels like a late-night broadcast sent from somewhere just beyond the atmosphere, and in this interview, he unpacks the inner world behind it. SIGNAL LOST pulls from a decade of shaping his sound, reaching back to teenage files while stepping into a new phase of self-knowledge. He reflects on using PROOF FM as a dreamy framing device, the strange comfort of transmissions, and the hazy headspace that shaped the album’s static-soaked mood. We also explore why performing new material live before the announcement feels like its own kind of thrill, how older songs found a second life, and what he hopes listeners finally catch about the man behind the synth pop haze.
You’ve teased that SIGNAL LOST plays out like a late night confessional transmitted through PROOF FM. When did the idea of framing the whole album as a radio show first spark for you, and what feeling were you chasing with that format?
Honestly, the original album title I penned when I first started this project about two years ago was ‘PROOF OF THE AFFAIR’, and as much as I liked the title, I felt as though I’d outgrown it. That’s where PROOF FM comes in. I wanted a subtle nod to what used fo be my intention with the record, but in a way that feels nostalgic and whimsical. This whole record has been set with the intention of giving listeners an escape from the chaos of the world around us. Take you into an alternate dimension, perhaps space, for a forty-six-minute journey.
You have said this record marks ten years of shaping your sound. When you reached back to those early projects you made at thirteen and sixteen, what surprised you most about the younger version of yourself hiding in those files?
I have a habit of judging my younger self. I started looking back at these older projects and thinking more critically and in depth as to what was I trying to make happen here and there and what I would do today with the more refined skill set that I have to make it happen.
There is something incredibly raw about building an album around transmissions. What does the phrase signal lost mean to you right now on a personal level, especially as you step into a new era of your career?
Signal lost itself kind of represents how I was feeling while making the record. To me, when I hear the phrase, I envision a radio floating in the ether. Just kind of there. I was so engulfed in the chaos around me, my brain felt like static at all times, and this record was my reprieve from it all.
You are holding off on announcing the album until your April show. What does performing new material live before anyone knows an album is on the horizon do for your confidence and the overall energy of the rollout?
To be fully honest, I just love to see the crowd reaction. I announced my previous record, ‘The Red Album,’ at a show in 2024 before I fully started my set, and the crowd went wild. I also just want to give them a more stripped-down sneak peek of some of the music, the acoustic versions they started as in my bedroom.
Synth pop comes with so much history and nostalgia. When you approached this record, what textures or moods shaped the late-night atmosphere you wanted listeners to feel from the first few seconds?
The intro to the record starts with flipping through channels and static on a radio. I wanted the journey to truly begin with an ease into another dimension, and I feel that the way I structured it really does well at bringing you into that with me before we kick off the first proper song.
Looking back across a decade of making music, what kept you going through the awkward years, the breakthroughs, and the inevitable moments where progress felt slow?
Truly just my love for songwriting. It became such an ingrained part of my everyday life that I had no brakes to apply to the train.
You are bringing a track from your first full album back into the spotlight. What made you decide it deserved a second life on SIGNAL LOST, and how did revisiting it change your relationship with it?
On my previous record, I’d revamped a song from the same album to make it more lively. I went into this album thinking “there has to be a section dedicated to the tender love I find myself occasionally writing about” and that song had always been a fan favorite as well as a personal favorite, so it kind of felt like an obvious choice to me.
When fans finally hear the full project on 15 May, what do you hope they understand about you that they might not have pieced together from your previous releases?
That I am a man of multitudes. And I like to get scrappy from time to time.
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Stream Xander Corbett’s discography on Spotify & connect with the artist via Instagram.
Interview by Amelia Vandergast
