Knox Talks Tapping Into a ‘Nostalgic Feel’ for ‘Pick Your Poison,’ Reveals Themes Behind Upcoming Debut Album

After a breakthrough 2024, Knox is not slowing down just yet.

In fact, it’s only January and he’s already released another viral track, “Pick Your Poison,” on Friday (Jan. 24), following immediately in the footsteps of his previous hits “Sneakers” and his first Billboard Hot 100-charting track, “Not The 1975.” The song, which he had been teasing on his social media platforms leading up to its release, finds the 27-year-old declaring over a thumping, early 2000s-inspired drum beat: “I’ll admit, I’m kinda craving the taste of something new/ So, come on, honey, pick your poison/ And I said, ‘Can I pick you?'”

“‘Pick Your Poison’ almost lives in the same world as ‘Not The 1975,’ thematically and lyrically,” Knox tells Billboard of his latest release, “But I feel like I spent all of 2024 putting out pretty pop-leaning records. What I wanted to do with this song, and why I think it’s the perfect lead-in to my album and everything that’s coming this year is that it has the same pop energy as ‘Not The 1975’ but it sonically feels more like ‘Sneakers,’ and takes it back to that nostalgic feel that I love while still feeling brand new.”

That yearning for nostalgia also serves as a main theme in his upcoming debut album, Going Going Gone, set for release on April 4 via Atlantic Records — though he admits that the project’s title was not what he was originally planning. “I ended up not being able to use my original idea, because I wanted to do something based around the movie The Breakfast Club, but we couldn’t get cleared for it,” he recalls with a laugh. “There’s a quote from the movie that’s my favorite quote ever, where [Mr. Vernon] says, ‘Spend a little less time trying to impress people and a little more time trying to make something of yourself.’ For a long time, when I was making this record, I was constantly thinking, ‘I hope other people like this,’ instead of just making music that I loved. I wanted to continue to shift that mindset going into my album.”

With that shift in mindset, Knox is working hard at maintaining his noticeably levelheaded demeanor as he heads into the release of Going Going Gone, and managing the pressure that comes following a breakout hit like “Not The 1975.” “I just take it day by day,” he admits. “If you think too much about it, it can be stressful but I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve always done, which is make music that I love and, hopefully, it still connects. They say that ‘pressure is privilege,’ and it’s true. I never would have thought I’d be in a position like this.”

Overall, Knox hopes that his fans can “feel comfortable being themselves when they hear my music.” Thankfully, they’ll be able to experience that in person when the singer goes on tour this spring in support of Going Going Gone. The run kicks off in Washington, D.C., on April 12 and will travel across the country before wrapping up in Nashville, Tenn., on May 10.

See the full list of tour dates, and pre-order Going Going Gone here.