Haiden Henderson spent a good portion of a recent 1824 press conference explaining why his debut album sounds like it was assembled by a pop star with a short attention span, and he seemed pretty excited to talk about it. The singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer, billed by his label as pop music’s “it boy,” talked through bleach, out this Friday, Oct. 30 on Lava/Republic, with the unfiltered humor that has built him a loyal online following. He recently opened for 5 Seconds of Summer, and next year he launches his biggest headline tour yet. The 48-date dumblond Tour opens Feb. 18 in Dublin, runs across the UK, Europe and North America, and wraps May 15 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Boston gets it April 24 at Big Night Live.
He started our chat with “dumblond,” the single that opens the album. Henderson described it as a “grand spiral staircase” into the record, and by his own account it’s “the most chaotic mess of a song” he could think of. It has a live orchestra, drums he compared to Kanye West’s Yeezus era, and delicate falsetto next to crowd vocals. The first line, “Big Bang confetti,” nods to the aerospace engineering he studied before music. Thematically, he said the whole album is about realizing you may not know yourself as well as you think, and that you’ve been changing who you are for the people around you. “dumblond” starts mid-performance, and his persona unravels from there.
The record’s title carries the same idea. Henderson said bleaching his hair became “the most simple and literal symbol” for his willingness to change things about himself for other people. It’s also the first time he wanted to lean into looking pale and monochromatic, after years of feeling insecure about not resembling the wavy-haired brunette boys of pop culture. The title track closes the album, and he said it was rewritten from a pop-rock song after the studio team started listening to Missy Elliott’s drum patterns. The result has guitar, falsetto and strings all riding the same roller coaster.
His writing process is unusual too. Henderson often starts with a song title, then asks himself what the least expected song for that title would be. One track on the album, “kick my ass,” is just him and an acoustic guitar, which he called the most bizarre thing he could do for a title that in-your-face. He used to write alone in his bedroom, and this was his first time jamming with collaborators. He said he’s only been writing songs for about three years and made the whole debut in under three months. “It’s a chaotic listening experience,” he said, “and it is by design.”
Some of his most fascinating answers were about masculinity. Raised by a single mom, Henderson said he’s long felt misunderstood by traditional male social dynamics, and he used the album to work through that. “NSFW” flips gender roles, inspired by dating a very successful woman, and “i wanna be your girl” asks what happens if you try being more like one of someone’s girls. Even his raunchier songs, like “freak for you,” come from a place of service to a partner, he said. He told his team he wanted to be treated like a pop girl, pointing to the range of an Ariana Grande record as his model. “I don’t know if I’m doing it well yet,” he said, “but I’m definitely just kind of doing my own version of it.”
He credits a lot of this to his fans. His Discord has about 17,000 members, he said, and his team includes someone to represent what he calls the “fangirl perspective” in every decision. He also described the music video for another song on the record, a groovy but melancholy track about his relationship with his younger brother, which references the film Buffalo ‘66.
Henderson said he wants strong reactions to bleach, including from people who might not like it. After years of making music he calls more familiar, he’d rather avoid a lukewarm response. “I’m trying to be a bit more brave,” he said, and the album’s chaos looks like a deliberate bet on that.
We’ll find out soon whether it pays off, with bleach and the dumblond Tour starting February 18.
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.