King No-One Share Raw, One-Take Video for New Single “Transgressions”

Northern alt-pop trio King No-One return with a statement of intent: “Transgressions”, a bold and unflinching new single that marks the beginning of their next era. Shot straight to film in a single breathless take, the accompanying video strips everything back — no tricks, no gloss, just visceral honesty. It mirrors the track itself: a confessional anthem where defiance, vulnerability, and working-class realism collide.

With frontman Zach Lount’s most revealing songwriting to date and a sonic palette that pushes the band onto their next rung, “Transgressions” sets the tone for the band’s forthcoming debut album, The Burden of Empathy — a record steeped in nostalgia, grit, and emotional clarity.

Below, King No-One speak in depth about the stories behind the song, the filmic visual, and the outsider perspective that has shaped their identity and their fiercely loyal audience.

1. “Transgressions” feels like a deeply personal track — both lyrically and emotionally. Can you talk us through what inspired it and how that sense of self-acceptance shaped the song?

One day I was feeling very reflective. I have always felt I've nearly been or have experienced something incredible so many times, but I've just not quite done it. I didn't mind this realisation. I found it comforting and I knew there'd be a wealth of people who don't quite fit in across the world that would have felt this same thing.

For much of my life, my starkly different nature and personality to the society I grew up in constantly got me in to trouble.

I found writing about it in the first two verses in Transgressions so rewarding, as I look back romantically over the trials I've faced. Then when I met my partner of (now) 7 years, she's from Iraq, and her trials were so different to mine to get to where she is.

And there was such a state of transience for me: falling in love, being accepted and accepting someone, both with such bizarre worlds and personalities that I felt these weights lift over that better part of a decade, to where I am now, and where I was when I wrote Transgressions. A little weirdo that doesn't care about what others think but ultimately has nothing to prove to anyone but himself.

2. The video was shot straight to film in a single take — a bold choice. What drew you to that approach, and how does the rawness of the visuals tie into the message of the track?

The video I feel really helps sell the conversational approach of the lyrics, the bumbling, rolling internal dialogue.

We had the idea of a one-shot in a house for a long time, but Jake Parker, the director, had the idea of doing it on film with a static camera, zooming in and out of the house as a metaphor for different parts of one's conscious.

See how the bottom floor is discussing, the middle floor capture the moments of self-acceptance, and the top room encapulates passion.

3. You’ve spoken about never fitting in with “the normalities in our culture.” How has that outsider perspective influenced the way King No-One writes and connects with listeners?

The crazy thing with our fans is that we didn't find or look for them, they gravitated to us.

There's something that we do naturally that they connect too. And once they did, they have stuck with us this whole time. It's authentic and beautiful It's my opinion that a lot of artists sell a 'misfits and outsiders' package, paying money and dedicating entire campaigns to finding that audience which is, let's face it - huge. But I refute that approach. I think it takes every cell of organic authenticity away. These artists will keep pushing the agenda long after it doesn't relate to themselves anymore.

I can't stand this tripe, and I’ve noticed our fans can't either - they know when they're being told to connect with something. I have always written about what I need to at the time, even at the risk of our entire fanbase not being able to connect to it.

4. There’s a strong thread of working-class realism and empathy in your music. How do your backgrounds and personal histories inform the stories you tell across this new chapter and upcoming album?

This album is very reflective. I guess that's only natural with a debut album. A few years ago I got a weekly DJ set in Leeds and I found myself staying one night a week in the Noster's in Beeston. They're those traditional back-to-back terraced houses you see on films or series about or involving the working class.

On the face of it, that's what a lot of people see - but I started my life in one of these houses, all those years ago.

To come back to the streets I started out on gave me an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. There's so much happening in each house, all of which are so close to the other that the families within find themselves connecting closely.

You of course get trouble, but communities are always stronger than the trouble they face in the end.

In Beeston I learned to love every culture that glistened in the shop windows, or adorned the streets, or filled the air with the smell of their nation's flavours. Fast forward some years, we moved to Selby and my family and I got into a lot of trouble. We didn't belong and we were made to feel that the second we arrived. I guess we looked different and acted differently, and it felt so isolating. Selby is a classic UK town, one most people can relate too. Not inherently working class, but inherently close minded - growing up wanting to be a musician in the 00s/10s was laughable. This is how I met guitarist Joe.

We're the only people that had ever gone into music in recent decades. But after all the s**t I got in school, outside of school, it only made me more defiant to be exactly who I was. To be the way I was it was imperative I understand how everybody else is the way they are too. My childhood was shaky and in that I learned to appreciate life and be compassionate to even those that hated me.

5. The Burden of Empathy sounds like both a statement and a confession. What can fans expect from the record — and how does it represent where King No-One are now as a band?

I guess that above I have mentioned empathy in passing, but it really is an overwhelming personality trait for me. I am so grateful to feel so deeply what others are going through, but equally it can be crippling. So when it came to writing a debut album, it really needed to tell a story lyrically about who I am, and what I care the most about, intertwined with what Joe and Rob both care about. Each song has a notion and a stage of empathy and the effects it has had on my psyche - but the title track itself is exactly as you say, both a statement and confession. There's so much feeling out in the world, it can be overwhelming, but I hope this album can help lift that weight for people.