The Haunted Youth return louder, darker, and done with holding back

Belgium’s brooding heartbreak specialists The Haunted Youth are back—and they’re not holding anything in.

The band have officially signed to Play It Again Sam and announced their sophomore album ‘Boys Cry Too,’ landing May 8, 2026. Alongside the news comes the album’s first gut-punch of a single, deathwish, featuring Orlando-based singer-songwriter Max Fry, complete with a striking new video.

If their debut ‘Dawn Of The Freak’ felt like a late-night bedroom confession, ‘Boys Cry Too’ is Joachim Liebens kicking the door clean off its hinges.

Originally a solo project, The Haunted Youth return sounding bigger, louder, and far more emotionally volatile. From the towering eight-minute opener “in my head” to the closing haze of “ghost girl,” the album trades wide-eyed innocence for confrontation—fragile melodies colliding head-on with distortion, aggression, and raw nerve.

“I was a kid on Dawn Of The Freak,” Liebens admits. “It sounds like nursery rhymes to me now—fragile, childlike, a cry for attention. And now? I’m angsty and kicking in doors.”

That energy pulses throughout ‘Boys Cry Too’. You can drift into the icy, morning-after regret of wake up, or ride the propulsive, almost New Order-like momentum of i hear voices. But more often than not, the album lives in darker corners: the goth-grunge thrash of murder me, or the scorched-earth instrumental falling to pieces, which feels like total emotional collapse set to sound.

Liebens is upfront about the album’s emotional arc. The first half is guarded, paranoid, and angry—the version of masculinity we’re used to seeing when boys are heartbroken. The second half cracks that armor wide open.

“I want to show the vulnerable part of men and boys,” he says. “And celebrate it instead of turning it into a stigma.”

That shift is mirrored sonically. Live drums and guitars take center stage this time, pushing past the sun-bleached synths of the debut. On castlevania, Liebens describes the sound as a perfect storm of Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine—a reference point that makes total sense once the guitars start howling.

Interestingly, much of the album was written while Liebens was deep into hip hop, citing emo-rap icon Lil Peep as a key influence. The goal wasn’t neat resolution, but instantly gripping lines that listeners could project their own pain onto.

That’s the magic of ‘Boys Cry Too’. Born from Liebens’ own bruises, it leaves enough space for yours.

‘Boys Cry Too’ track list

1. in my head
2. castlevania
3. deathwish
4. emo song
5. wake up
6. hurt
7. murder me
8. falling to pieces
9. i hear voices
10. forget me
11. ghost girl

Mark May 8 down in your calendar. This one’s going to hit hard—and linger even longer.