{"id":733363,"date":"2026-08-10T10:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/733363\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:04:11","slug":"nate-sib-is-finding-peace-and-purpose-in-his-pop-mission-the-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/733363\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Sib is finding peace and purpose in his pop mission | The Cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a9 2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NME\"<\/a>Nate Sib is finding peace and purpose in his pop mission | The Cover | NME.com\"NateNate Sib (2026), photo by Chessa SubbiondoAs he pulls back the curtain on his personal redemption story, the American singer is determined to imbue his glossy electropop with inclusivity: \u201cI want to build a world where everyone feels welcome\u201d<\/p>\n

Words by\u00a0David Renshaw<\/a><\/p>\n

10th August 2026\"NateWeekly Poster Giveaway<\/p>\n

Tell us why you love the artist and have a chance to win a free poster!\u00a0Shout-Outs are only available on mobile devices.<\/p>\n

Nate Sib<\/a> may still live with one of his parents, but there are signs that he\u2019s not your typical member of the stuck-at-home generation. He\u2019s speaking to NME from Los Angeles in a house he shares with his mum and sister (\u201cThere\u2019s no need to go and spend a million dollars a month somewhere in LA,\u201d he says. Fair) with a black Lorde<\/a> hoodie pulled up tight over his long wavy hair.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just merch he bought with money he saved on rent \u2013 he picked it up at her Ultrasound tour stop at New York\u2019s Barclays Center in December. That same night he joined support act, and his childhood friend, 2hollis<\/a> on stage and was hanging out backstage after the show when he met the headliner herself. \u201cI told her how I was blown away by how she made \u2018Pure Heroine\u2019 when she was 16 or something,\u201d he says of his fanboy moment. \u201cI was just like, \u2018That\u2019s incredible.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NateNate Sib on The Cover of NME. Credit: Chessa Subbiondo for NME<\/p>\n

Were Sib to meet Lorde again, they could well bond over a shared ability to craft pop<\/a> debuts filled with clarity beyond their years. \u2018Reborn\u2019, out this month, is both Sib\u2019s introduction to the wider world and a revealing portrait of an artist his fanbase only ever half knew. The album is essentially Sib\u2019s artistic origin story, charting a route from addiction to redemption through religious enlightenment and the discovery of a musical purpose that saved him. Understandably, it is something the 22-year-old is hugely proud of making even if he isn\u2019t quite sure how to talk about it all just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe album is called \u2018Reborn\u2019 for a reason,\u201d Sib says, pulling down his hood and making eye contact. \u201cIt is about me literally dying for five minutes from an overdose when I was 17.\u201d Sib doesn\u2019t look back on his overdose as a rock bottom as much as he does an awakening. \u201cI overdosed on fentanyl, and I literally felt like I\u2019d had a weight lifted off of me,\u201d he says with the air of someone who narrowly avoided a bullet or speeding car. \u201cI was like, \u2018OK, I\u2019m done.\u2019 It\u2019s an accident that changed my life forever and will keep me sober forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NateCredit: Chessa Subbiondo for NME<\/p>\n

Sib recalls the night he OD\u2019d. He had been staying in a sober living house, an outpatient facility where patients were free to come and go at their own leisure, after a period of substance abuse issues. This was in Los Angeles, \u201cnot a smart place for me to be,\u201d Sib says. \u201cIt was about three in the morning, and I just remember waking up with firefighters all around me. They told me that they had to Narcan<\/a> me three times. All I remember is crying, feeling sick, feeling so defeated. It almost felt like a demon was on me for years and then it wasn\u2019t. It really felt like God saved me in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a wake-up call Sib was lucky to receive. Fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids were the primary source of the 70,000 recorded fatal overdoses<\/a> in the United States last year. The sequencing of \u2018Reborn\u2019 mirrors Sib\u2019s life, moving from euphoric highs into darkness before culminating in peace and clarity. Sib always knew he had to tell this story with his music \u2013 and that he had to wait to grow as a songwriter before he was able to do it justice. \u201cI\u2019ve been needing to go there since that happened,\u201d he says. \u201cIt just took time for me to get a little older and be ready. The only way to get there was putting myself out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to just be a pop star. I want to be someone who builds a world where everyone feels welcome\u201d<\/p>\n

On his two previous EPs, 2024\u2019s \u2018For You\u2019 and last year\u2019s \u2018For Us,\u2019 Sib established himself as the glossy pop star of the internet underworld, a Bieber<\/a>-like figure for kids raised on SoundCloud<\/a> rap<\/a> and speaker-rattling EDM<\/a>. 2hollis is not just his BFF, but also his spiritual forebear: an artist that can unite Discord<\/a> servers and arena-sized crowds with a cavalcade of strong hooks and blown-out basslines. \u201cDistorted fun\u201d is how Sib neatly terms it.<\/p>\n

On \u2018Reborn\u2019 he stays in that sonic world while also finding new textures to stitch his backstory into. Lead single \u2018Face Card\u2019 is a pure loverboy anthem (\u201cI\u2019ll cuff you winter, spring, or summer\u201d), Sib gliding over sleek production that feels more like a dreamy Hollywood depiction of a rave than the grittier reality. That song, alongside the previously released \u2018Let You Go\u2019, form part of the album\u2019s first act, a medley of chaos and intoxication. As the record progresses, the energy switches and Sib\u2019s voice comes to the forefront. Stripped-back songs such as \u2018Too\u2019 and the stunning \u2018It Ain\u2019t Easy\u2019 mark Sib\u2019s time spent healing and gaining a newfound purpose in life. He looks back at a misspent youth while expressing gratitude to God, something he found while attending AA meetings on his sobriety journey.<\/p>\n

\"NateCredit: Chessa Subbiondo for NME<\/p>\n

Sib, who says he wants to release an EP solely of piano-based songs in the near future, couldn\u2019t have made this album alone. Besides regular collaborators Jonah Abraham and Billy Walsh, he worked with Ryan Tedder<\/a>, the OneRepublic<\/a> frontman and established go-to songwriter for pop stars looking to inject emotional heft into pristine pop packages. Tedder \u2013 who has written for Adele<\/a>, Lady Gaga<\/a> and Beyonc\u00e9<\/a> alongside BTS<\/a> and Katseye<\/a> \u2013 and Sib, crown prince of the underground, don\u2019t seem like the most natural pairing, NME suggests. Sib is quick to disagree. \u201cHe was already a fan of mine and got what I needed immediately. You play him a song, and he hears the hook so quickly and builds on it. It was like the whole universe was just coming out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sib\u2019s improvement as a songwriter can be heard most strongly on the Tedder co-write and latest single \u2018All I Needed\u2019, a devotional ballad built around muted percussion and a piercing vocal. On it Sib raises his prayer hands and thanks God for pulling him through a situation that could so easily have gone the other way. \u201cBefore I hit the ground you caught me\u201d, he sings as if bathed in white light. \u201cBut damn I almost died I OD\u2019d \/ I\u2019m just tryna be what you saw in me\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"NateCredit: Chessa Subbiondo for NME<\/p>\n

Sib isn\u2019t naive and says he was \u201cdefinitely\u201d conscious of writing about God without veering into the clich\u00e9s of straightforwardly devotional music. He also appreciates that fans who came to his music through the edgy production and air of transgression may not be on board for this pivot. He is keen to flip the narrative, though, and argues that writing about his spiritual beliefs shouldn\u2019t be taboo. \u201cPeople are very scared to talk about God,\u201d he says. \u201cFar more than the devil or upside-down crosses or whatever. It\u2019s always like, \u2018Be careful talking about God.\u2019 Why is it not weird to talk about the other side? I think God is beautiful and shouldn\u2019t be something people are scared to talk about, if they want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sib is also a huge advocate for sobriety and, while he is happy for people to get fucked up at his shows, he wants to show that restraint can be cool, too. \u201cYou can be sober and find the high in the music,\u201d he says. Does he have a message for those who might be sober- curious? \u201cJust know that it\u2019s positive,\u201d he says, \u201cand that it\u2019s also edgy and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to NME a year ago<\/a>, Sib was in a bullish mood about his music ambitions. \u201cI want to be the next big male pop star,\u201d he said then. \u201cLike how it was for JB [Justin Bieber], Michael Jackson<\/a>, Prince<\/a>, David Bowie<\/a>.\u201d Fast forward 15 months and his outlook is a little more grown and less focused on himself. \u201cI don\u2019t want to just be a pop star,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to be someone who builds a world where everyone feels welcome.\u201d What would that world look like? \u201cEveryone would idolise themselves and feel good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not hiding behind the curtains anymore. This is me\u201d<\/p>\n

As an artist, Sib\u2019s goal has switched to impact rather than status. Who is he leaning on as he embarks on this mission? He mentions his mum and girlfriend as pillars of support, as well as his sister Chessa, a photographer who helped him establish his visual identity and shot him for The Cover<\/a>. (\u201cShe knows my story because she lived through it.\u201d) There is his dad, too, a pop-punk<\/a> frontman and music industry figure whose label SideOneDummy helped establish bands including Title Fight and The Gaslight Anthem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We wrap up by talking about 2hollis, Sib\u2019s friend since elementary school and someone who urged him to pursue music when they lived together as teenagers. He appears on \u2018Reborn\u2019 with a production credit on the standout \u2018Problem\u2019. It\u2019s easy to be best friends with someone when you live together, but has that changed now they are both living incredibly busy and demanding lives? \u201cIf anything, it\u2019s brought us closer,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re both on a journey and are there for each other.\u201d How about Boylife, the collective Sib and 2hollis formed alongside rommulas, Jonah Abraham and conceal? Sib is keen to stress that they are \u201cjust a group of friends\u201d but that they are keen to tour together if their schedules allow it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Finally, we ask, with such an honest and revealing album under his belt, is Sib finally ready to share more of himself in how he is presented \u2013 perhaps even showing his whole face in photos? He says he still believes in the power of mystery and works hard to avoid overexposure but, yes, he\u2019s finally comfortable putting himself out there a little more. \u201cI\u2019m not hiding behind the curtains anymore. This is me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nate Sib\u2019s \u2018Reborn\u2019 is out August 21 via Republic Records \/ Island EMI.<\/p>\n

Listen to Nate Sib\u2019s exclusive playlist to accompany The Cover below on Spotify or on Apple Music here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Words: David Renshaw
Photography: Chessa Subbiondo
Styling: Valeria Semushina
Grooming: Ericka Verrett
Label: Republic Records<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world’s defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking what’s new and what’s next since 1952. Join…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-733363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}