Everywhere I Went, Led Me To Where I Didn't Want To Be

Album ∙ Alternative ∙ 2025

Tom Grennan

As Tom Grennan mulled over what his fourth album should sound like, the singer-songwriter from Central England decided it could be one of two things. Firstly, he wondered if it should mark a return to his roots and the soulful, indie-ish sound of Lighting Matches, the 2018 debut that set Grennan on the path to stardom and introduced an artist who could wrap his emotional, powerful vocal around poignant tales of everyday life.

But there was another, more appealing idea. “I was like, ‘I’m going to roll the dice and give pop star a go,’” Grennan tells Apple Music. It’s a decision that has resulted in Everywhere I Went, Led Me to Where I Didn’t Want to Be, the most exuberant and euphoric record of his career.

Heading to America and working with an A-list cast of producers and writers including Britney Spears and Selena Gomez collaborator Justin Tranter, brother team Connor and Riley McDonough, Cleo Tighe, and more, Grennan has crafted an album with an irrepressible swagger. There are indelible bangers, from the George-Michael-gone-Balearic opening of “Full Attention” to the gospel-house grooves of “Cool with That” and the slick future funk of “Shadows on the Ceiling,” but there are moments of downtempo reflection too, a theme in keeping with where Grennan’s head was at writing these songs.

“When I first started the album, I remember sitting down with the people involved and saying, ‘I want to give pop a go, but I want to do it in my own way,’” he explains. “I need to be honest with what’s going on, and I want it to tell the story of me being 21 to 29 and the journey of what the music industry has been for me.” Everywhere I Went, Led Me to Where I Didn’t Want to Be is Tom Grennan’s jubilant pop statement. He guides us through it, track by track…

“Full Attention”
“This came from me being in therapy and me being at the forefront of ‘Who did I want to be?’ I’d sat down with my thoughts and faced things head-on. It was me saying, ‘I need to give myself full attention for peace of mind.’ I had to sit down with myself and look through the telescope of life and who was at the end of it: a little boy who just wanted to be loved, and the person who needed to love him was myself. The song unfolded from trying to be in tune with who I wanted to be and where I was at.”

“Cool with That”
“This is about the night I met my wife. It’s about understanding the person I was and the issues and the demons I had, and her going, ‘We will face them head-on together and everything will be cool with that at the end of it all.’ It’s about that night and feeling like, ‘Wow, I’ve already fallen in love with this person, however, still got a lot of shit I need to fix up before I can give it my all.’”

“Shadowboxing”
“This was the first song I wrote for the album. Again, it’s me fighting with my inner beast and that inner thing that I have to fight with daily. Even now, it’s like the devil and the angel on my shoulder and the battles that I have to get through every day to find peace again. I think that’s what shaped the whole album. I’ve always got to battle and I’ve always had to do that. I knew it was going to be a Marmite [love-it-or-hate-it] song, but that’s fine. Even for me, it’s a little bit Marmite sometimes but I think lyrically, it’s probably the most honest I’ve ever been in verses.”

“Boys Don’t Cry”
“This is about a lot of things. It’s the first time me and my friends had an honest, open conversation about emotions and men’s emotions. I’m from a working-class background in a small town. I’ve lived in London and a lot of people are in a bubble and forget there are all these little English towns that still have this kind of narrative that men have to be strong and never show weakness. I come from an alpha male friendship group that is very ‘How do we break each other down?’ I think it’s the first time we showed vulnerability to each other and spoke as men and said the deepest things that we’ve had to share with each other. That gave me the idea of ‘Boys Don’t Cry.’”

“Somewhere Only We Go”
“‘Somewhere Only We Go’ is about life, friendship groups, loved ones, and people that are in your life who you think are going to be there forever. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s about someone who was one of my best friends and, unfortunately, life happens and people can drift apart. Even with all the malice and the shit that happened between us, it’s also saying, ‘You’re still a massive part of my story.’ Hopefully, one day we can reconnect and talk about the old times and go back to the place that only we know and where we grew up together.”

“Shadows on the Ceiling”
“This is more of a sexy tune. It’s a bit more adult. I feel like being 29 at the time, I’m allowed to show that I do have a romantic side. I’m not just a boy, I’m a grown-up man now. Again, it’s the first time me and my wife realized that we were onto something bigger than just having a relationship. It was longevity, it was magic, so it’s all about that, but bringing sex into it.”

“Celebrate”
“This says it in the title. It’s celebrating good times. I’ve been at the bottom of the well and I thought I’d never get out. I had glimpses of hope and I have glimpses, again, I keep using the words ‘peace of mind,’ but that’s what it is. I’m always just searching for peace of mind and to repair my soul. ‘Celebrate’ is just me saying, ‘Let’s celebrate family, let’s celebrate life and being alive, man.’ It sounds so clichéd but it is the truth.”

“Higher”
“I wanted to make a feel-good song. It was a feeling more than anything. I think it was everything I’ve spoken about, from my demons to the angels to the battle. Me figuring a lot of things out of what makes me tick and what makes me feel good and what makes me a better person in general. When you realize that, it’s like a higher power.”

“Certified”
“‘Certified’ is, again, about my wife, saying, ‘This is a certified thing, this is a done deal, this is a life’s commitment, this is happening.’ Again, it’s all about the story of how we met and what we went through. It’s a positive song. It’s an uplifting song.”

“Diamond”
“‘Diamond’ is having that rock that glows and makes you glow and makes you feel like you’re a million dollars. When you know you have that person on your right hand or your left arm, whatever it may be, they allow you to glow and you both glow together, and that’s what it’s about.”

“Dirty Dishes”
“This is me losing all sense of ego and going, ‘Fuck this.’ Again, it’s a feeling, man. I don’t actually know what the fuck this song’s about. There’s loads of shit that it could be about, man. Fuck knows!”

“Cinnamon”
“‘Cinnamon’ is acknowledging my focus is all on one person, when you see a girl and you’re like, ‘Wow, all these people in here have eyes on you. However, you’ve got eyes on me.’ I don’t want this whole thing to just be like, ‘This record’s about his wife!’ But a lot of it is. ‘Cinnamon’ is seeing somebody in a place where everybody’s looking at them and you’re lucky enough to have their eyes locked onto you and your eyes locked into them and everybody else is insignificant.”

“Drama Queen”
“‘Drama Queen’…well, I am one. In the past and even in the present, I always overdramatize a situation. That’s a bad trait I have. I always think the worst of myself, and it tells a story of me being in a place where I didn’t think I could come back from. When I look back, I was like, ‘Well man, it wasn’t all too bad.’ But there was a lot of soul-searching in and around the time that this song was written. ‘Drama Queen’ is about being a dramatic cunt sometimes.”

“I Won’t Miss a Thing”
“This came when my granddad was in hospital and it was me looking at my him and thinking, ‘Wow, life is short and to try and capture every bit of life you possibly can.’ Also, when somebody does pass away, not to believe that they’re not going to be with you and they’re always going to be watching. That gave me peace again where I was like, ‘If he does die tonight, then I think and I hope and I know that he will be always in my heart and helping me along the way.’”

“Lonely Dancer”
“This the same essence of ‘Cinnamon.’ There’s no rhyme or reason apart from this person knowing that in the moment, everything’s fine and everything is amazing and she can dance on her own. She doesn’t need attention, she doesn’t need anybody to bother her. She’s cool with life. That inspired me. I was like, ‘I wish I was like that. I need to be more like that,’ because I’m just a worrier. I wanted to write a song that, as soon as it’s played, all of the worries go out the window.”