White Label

White Label is the fifth and final extended play (EP) by English boy band RoadTrip. It was released independently on 28 February 2020 under the label, Trans International Records. It consists of three tracks, making it their shortest EP overall, and is the group's first piece of original music with new member Harper Dark. Unlike their previous EPs, there is no title track song. It attained one million streams on 2 April 2020.
== Background ==
The public announcement of the extended play was on 23 February 2020, the band additionally releasing the music video for one of its tracks, "Me and You". A snippet of "Understand" was teased for several seconds at the end of their music video. "Hero" was a song they performed earlier in 2019, when the band embarked on The Hero Tour and Jack Duff was still part of the lineup. It was a highly anticipated song, which ultimately led to the band's decision to include it. The EP was listed as a single over Apple Music, likely because of its duration/number of tracks.
On all three tracks, Dark begins each song, likely a conscious decision to introduce him as a vocalist. Rye Beaumont had tweeted, "I can't begin to describe how accomplished I'll feel at 12:00 tonight! FINALLY music that I'm proud of through and through! I'll legit be telling everyone about these tunes with a smile on my face! Still a long way to go but it's the start of a new era and I hope you agree 😌"."Rye Beaumont (@RealRyeBeaumont)". Twitter. 27 February 2020. On 17 March 2020, they announced a limited edition of White Label hoodies on their new merch store that launched earlier that year in February."RoadTrip (@RoadTripTV)". Twitter. 17 March 2020.
The song titles are hidden in the EP's cover artwork, along with a message that says, "Charlie is well talented", which Beaumont designed. They deliberately did not put their picture on it, unlike their previous EPs."RoadTrip Interview: Andy Fowler". YouTube. 25 April 2020. In a livestream, Fowler explained that "white label" was a term in the music industry for an upcoming artist releasing music outside of a label, in relation to them being unsigned."RoadTrip (@roadtrip)". TikTok. 27 February 2020.
== Composition ==
Musically, White Label is a pop record, though it can be distinct from their past EPs with more mature lyrics and steers away from the guitar-driven production. All of the three tracks' central theme is relationships, where one is about toxicity ("Me and You"), one is about nostalgia ("Understand"), and one is about unrequited love ("Hero"). Each can draw parallels to their previous songs, where "Something About You" is also about an unhealthy relationship, and "I Wasn't Worried" mentions a red dress, like in "Understand". One of the co-writers, Justus Nzeribe, is also credited as the songwriter for their single, "Take This Home". Andy Fowler named it to be his favourite RoadTrip EP, along with Dynamite."Fovvs (@fovvs)". Twitter. 5 March 2020.
In an interview, Fowler discussed them trying to branch out from "stereotypical cheesy boy band pop". He added that it was more mid-range, and brought out the best in Hunt, Wyatt and Robertson. In regards to the writing credits on the EP, he stated, "When it came to writing, we all had our input, we all had our references, it wasn't just me. Although my name's the only one on there, all the other boys―Brooklyn, Harper, Sonny, Rye―were all sat with me going 'Right, we should have references from this song, we should have this sound, that we should slow this bass down, we should change the key' and stuff like that".
== Promotion ==
In promotion, the band held their headline concert One Night Only on 1 March 2020 at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, their first performance with a new lineup, as well as the first time the band performed their songs "Me and You" and "Understand" live. They first announced it on 15 December 2019, and presale tickets were available on the 18th, while tickets for public went on sale on the 20th."RoadTrip (@roadtriptv)". Instagram. 15 December 2019."Alstar Music". Instagram. 15 December 2019."RoadTrip / O2 Shepherds Bush Empire" | Facebook Asher Knight and Jack Duff were announced as supporting acts. Additionally, the band launched their new merch store on 27 February 2020, where 1,000 exclusive Shepherd's Bush hoodies were given to the first 1,000 people who bought them, each with their own respective number. Twenty selected ones had a silver tag, and one had a golden ticket, which came with a prize (much in semblance to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). In their vlog, "He Did What for £1000?! (Competition Winners Announced!)", it revealed the competition winners. The One Night Only show was choreographed by Sophie Hind and was the band's first show with dancers."Sophie Hind (@gingersophie)". Instagram. 1 March 2020. Their set list was made up of the band's original songs, rather than featuring any cover songs like in the past. 
On 19 April, the trailer for their documentary "RoadTrip: Before the Show (Official Documentary)" was posted, then officially released a week later on the 26th. Along with documenting their show, it summarised their musical journey as a band. It was filmed by Conner Foley, Alex Millichamp, C. K. Morrison, Robbie Beaumont; edited by Foley and Millichamp."RoadTrip: Before the Show (Official Documentary)". YouTube. 26 April 2020. Foley and Millichamp edited the video for about forty days, having around fifty hours of footage to comb through. They spent two days editing the shot of fading Duff and Cobban from the scene of the band's "Take This Home" music video, where they hold their hands up to the skyline. They also stated it was the biggest project they'd done to "the scale" and "standard"."After "Before The Show" - Roadtrip Documentary Q&A". YouTube. 17 July 2020. The extended cut was released on 6 May, amidst the band's public split.
== Track listing ==
== Release history ==
Country	Date 	Format	Label 	
Various	28 February 2020	 	Independent	
== References ==
Category:EPs
Category:RoadTrip albums
Category:White Label