Modern Anxiety (stylized in all lowercase) is the second studio album by Australian singer and songwriter Josef Salvat. It was released on 15 May 2020 through Sony Music, succeeding his 2016 debut album Night Swim.
Background
Upon the release of the album's lead and title cut "Modern Anxiety", Salvat described roughly what his audience could expect from the album sonically in an interview with Gay Times, saying "It's coming next year, I'm just doing final touches on that. And sonically it is a mixed bag, as was my first one, I think. And I think that's what I'm interested in. Thematically it deals with a lot of issues that I found really funny, and I tried to do it in a light way, because that was the only way I could do it. If I was too happy about all of it, not even when writing, but when I was thinking about it, I'd get stuck in this maze. But by trying to be light, and graceful in the way I dealt with stuff, and with compassion for myself and for other people which I've lacked in the past, but I feel like I have a lot more of that now. That's kind of what's gone into the writing process. And sonically I've been restrained. This whole album is open. I felt like I lived in a prison of my own making for eight years. I feel with the first album, I was so proud of that, but I feel this whole album is about connecting with people."[6]
The album's lead single and title cut "Modern Anxiety" was released on 13 November 2019 with a music video directed by Salvat himself, alongside Meg O'Connell.[7] The second single "In the Afternoon" succeeded on 16 January 2020 with a music video directed my Andrea Mae Perez.[8]
Promotional singles
The singles "Alone" and "Playground Love" were both released as promotional singles and b-sides to "Modern Anxiety" and "In the Afternoon" respectively.
