Grammy-Award nominated Tom Tripp returns with his brand new single ‘TAM’ out now on Polydor Records.
After taking some time out following a car accident to focus on self-care and re-centre himself creatively, the North London vocalist and producer is more energised than ever before. ‘TAM’ marks the first time fans will be hearing new music from his forthcoming project ‘FLAG’.
The electro-laced funk track started life back in 2016, undergoing various iterations on Tom’s laptop until a session with Grades earlier this year lead to a final version that the self-proclaimed perfectionist was finally happy to share with the world.
On the making of the track, Tom recollects, “I had no idea where to take this song. I had a million versions. It was just a bedroom beat I made when I was 19 listening to a bunch of Daft Punk. Grades heard the tune and loved it so when he offered to work on it I told him to do whatever he wanted. He took it to a whole new level. Don’t think I would have ever finished it if it wasn’t for him.”
Accompanied by his first-ever music video, courtesy of director James Callum, Tom extends his artistry further than ever before. A former stage actor and visual junkie – he admits he’ll hoard books and records just off the strength of their cover art – Tom confesses that he initially remained stationary on stage when performing his music. The last couple of years rectified that, with a baptism by fire via a star-studded Coachella 2017 performance with Mura Masa and a tour support slot for Jungle last year. In the red-doused ‘TAM’ video these experiences shine through, with his expressive movement articulating the song’s intense emotion.
After racking up over 6 million streams with his independent debut EP, ‘Red’ – following the tastemaker favourites ‘Aurelia,’ released via NAO’s Little Tokyo Recordings, ‘Pamela’ (with Denmark’s LISS) and Mura Masa collab ‘helpline’ (for which he received a Grammy nomination), Tom signed a deal with Polydor and set to work on his second EP. Tom made the decision to scrap the first version of that, tentatively titled ‘Black’, after being involved in a car accident and suffering from depression. It proved to be a necessary process for Tom to be able to rise from the ashes with a brand-new collection that he believes encompasses what he represents artistically. “My inner soul was like, ‘Nah, you don’t like this,’” he recalls. “I thought, ‘Let’s just reset, let me have a fresh start and look again at what I want to do with music, and what I want people to know about me.’”
The making of ‘FLAG’ proved to be a healing process. “My favourite part of being an artist is getting out exactly what I’m going through in my head on a microphone,” he says. “I’ve clearly got my thoughts on track, on record for the world to hear and people can relate to how they want. It’s a release for me. It’s kind of selfish actually; it’s not for you, you can enjoy it, but this is for me.”
Watch the video above and stream here.
