Max's Music Mondays with thomTide and Tommy Lefroy

It's t(h)om week, tap tf in please.

Apr 12, 2021

Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays - a ~music discovery newsletter~ where I hurt my fingers smashing too hard on the keys about songs I love. I hope you’ll love them too. If you do, follow along on spotify and please respectfully press that subscribe button. Let me know if you do I’ll send you a thank you note or flowers or something.

That’s right folks, the biggest week of the year is here!! It’s T(h)om(my) week! This is definitely a real thing and not a coincidence that I leaned into due to the songs I picked. And what better way to celebrate than by thinking about another T(h)om(my) I love. Is it Tom DeLonge (American Musician)? Nope, sorry. Is it Tom (American Actor, of ‘and Jerry’ fame)? Nope! Am I just stalling because I don’t really have anything to write about because T(h)om(my) week isn’t a real thing?!?! No!!! No to this one the most. (update: I’m editing this now and my oh my is this insane to read…. thank you for bearing with me LOL)

The correct answer was Tom Tripp. His feature on Mura Masa’s ‘helpline’ came up on my running playlist this morning and holy shit, it got me. The song itself is beautiful and wavy and fun, but spoke to me on a ~Deeper Level~. Mura Masa’s live sets have brought me and my friends so much joy, hearing this song just sent me straight back to Lollapalooza 2017 (RIP Pepsi Stage), dancing and having the T of our L’s. I miss it, I miss them, and it all finally feels close again. Trying to stay patient and calm, but I really can’t wait (that’s a lie, sorry - I can, and will, but it’s a lot less emotionally impactful to say that). And so there I was, eyes watering only 15mins into the run… if you saw me crying and running and dancing down Sunset, no you didn’t etc. etc.

What’s New:

New additions to Max’s Music All The Other Days:

The Soft Streak album is here!!! ‘Always’ has been on repeat from the very second it dropped. Just love this one, oh my goodness. Tender and groovy?!?!
St. Panther covers Sharon Van Etten, a beautiful take on a beautiful song. Gives it a completely new life.
Loving the Teddy Geiger remix of Sylvan Esso. It’s SE as dark indie rock with a darkness and drive like a Sun June tune? or a Taylor’s peace? That bass is so good.
New Tkay Maidza is always cause for celebration, and this one absolutely goes. I just wanna be rich, thick, sweet, sick. Just cut to me screaming this in the mirror.
I adore this new Benny Sings x Kyle song, a gentle banger. So pleasant and so fun and so weird still?? I love it.
OF COURSE rounding it out with the new Rostam song, I swear if I heard shit like this when I was in high school I would’ve practiced the saxophone a lot more. I didn’t know it could be so cool!!

This Week’s Songs:

twentySuns & peaceMaker - thomTide

That’s right a 2 for 1 special, tooMuch thomTide toPick just one. I wrote about thomTide for The Wild Honey Pie in November, and the thing that really had my attention was the mystery and the surprise. Appearing out of nowhere, releasing a string of singles - mostly 60-90 seconds or so, each of them feeling unique and unlabelable (willing to concede that’s not a word if you’re willing to concede you get the gist). I tried my best to find comps, Moses Sumney / 645AR / Brittany Howard? I just couldn’t capture it all. As we’ve seen from my St. Panther / Quiet Girl deep dive last year, I am willing to dig and dig to find answers, but I literally couldn’t find a thing about thomTide. And yet, WHP publishes that review and turns out we’ve got mutual friends. THE ANSWERS WERE UNDER MY NOSE THE WHOLE TIME!!! It’s always small world moments like this that suck me deeper into the music, and since then, thomTide has continued to deliver on the “unique and unlabelable” promise, releasing something every two weeks and I never know what to expect (except a good song). I’ve picked two here because 1) I MAKE THE RULES and 2) they’re short and sweet and wanted to give you your money’s worth and a taste of the variety.

twentySuns - The dust blowing across the desert, this one really feels like the intro sequence of a western. Enough grit and jangly-ness to get that head knocking, the different guitars laying down gems all over the mix. The drums roll their way in, such a great tone and just gives the song so much motion and momentum. thomTide rides their wave too, this calm smooth delivery over some haunting ooo’s barely holding on back there. The song is short, and he wastes no time sliding over the easy groove. Feels like he’s taking what the track gives him, shining when there’s room but not forcing anything. “Slept on a mess, woke up to a bigger mess / Rest under stress, well that isn't rest” toying with the pace and rhythm and rhyme, sneaking these bits of wisdom in. “Fire when I walk and I don't look back” feels like the entire mood of this song, staying cool and moving forward. And so will we.

peaceMaker - Again, thomTide blows me away, creating these beautiful soundscapes and songs in so many different styles. And the divergence from twentySuns to peaceMaker is a powerful example. This dreamy intro, the harmonies seeping out, like a web of vocals. And the web caught me. Twisting and turning, the those synths bend and bend and just before they break - the peak of that tension - thomTide slides back in, easing the edge. These vocals are just so smooth and rich. “PeaceMaker” glistening from side to side as the structure of the song refuses to meet any expectations. It holds its own form, its own sound. The melody is so soft yet daring, lines like “A heart run over with empathy” pushing towards a Caroline Polachek level ethereal feel. Ramming up against these bold chords of harmonies. Really just dig this section, so different and almost uncomfortable, on edge in a genuinely beautiful way. It releases back to these filtered vocals - can just see thomTide singing this on some vintage mic under the moonlight. idk why but that’s just what I’m feeling. It’s honest and personal, in a way that stands out against this production. That vocal run at 1:05 - 1:08…. COME ON that is so damn cool and also good and wow. The atmospheric outro feels almost like Lux Natura (great nature-inspired ambient stuff if you’re ever looking), all just a bit eerie but a warm eeriness that I really love. And none of this really touches on the heartbreaking songwriting, which is so dang good too. “I'm living in the past till there's someone else / to look forward to” oooooof *tearing up emoji!!!*

Dig around thomTide’s catalog, I’m sure you’ll find more to like. There’s stuff that pushes more hip-hop (aintNew), soulful stuff (usuallyDo), and shimmering falsettos (redBrocket). Somehow managing to do all of them with a distinct sound and with success. Enjoy it, I know I do.

The Cause - Tommy Lefroy

Holy moly we’ve got some gold on our hands, friends. The size and heft of the drums stir up some early drama, mixed beautifully I feel like the drums are in front of me, behind me, all around. Pulled in every direction, pulled into the song. The parallel vocals keep you centered too, both of them holding us right in the middle of it all. I find myself listening back and forth, my attention floating between the two voices, both beautiful, with flairs and flourishes that keep them separated. “You always said that / the Chelsea was the heart of the gold rush” pushes us on into a new level, guitars buzzing forward underneath our feet. The “how could I ever” section is so good, the vocals really shining over the paired back band. Those keys add some energy and right as the wave is about to crest, we fall back even farther, these haa-ohh’s feeling almost regretful as we look back on these stories. Verse two is stellar, and you get even more reason for the aforementioned regret. I couldn’t choose which lyric to quote, because after I typed the first part I paused the song to say “Fuck that’s so good”, then I hit play and then I did the exact same thing again. So let’s just take a moment and soak these in:

wouldn’t call you lover cause it’s loaded
I had more to say but you were louder than me

(brief moment to sigh)

I wanted something honest
and you spoke with conviction
so I started singing along

This is some SHIT right here. Whew. I’m floored by the way they are able to weave these internal thoughts and emotions (which are articulated in such a simple and stunning way) in with the mistakes and pain found, that visceral recognition as they reflect. Like… WOW. This time around the self-reflection feels a bit more confident and sure. Maybe less of regret and more acceptance, we’ve grown since then and it feels almost silly that we went through it. A smirk on our faces knowing we won’t find ourselves back there again. That little chuckle under the haa-ohh’s giving away the change. A cheeky little guitar riff sending us up and off. The bridge clearly a standout moment, the vocalists just SHINING in space here, a beautiful choir of questioners, creates a touching moment. The momentum pushing on after that pool shot (hope it went in!!), the whole band finding their power, releasing out into this final thought. It’s really a fantastic moment. Sick songwriting and a great performance from every element. Excited about this duo and can’t wait to see what’s next.

And now… sadly… we must part ways and get on with our days. Thank you for reading, thank you for listening, can’t wait to do this again soon (soon = next Monday). In the meantime, please share this with anyone you think might dig it, the more friends the better.

Cheers, have a great week,

Max

Max's Music Mondays