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| Photo by: Meghan Tansey Whitton |
There are many artists navigating the industry with skill, but T. has so much more than that. He and his music come with a story of substance, strength and self-discovery.
After taking a year away from music in 2015 – relearning his singing voice and changing his name and pronouns, T. worked hard to develop his new sound following his EP sweet baby. This EP was born out of growth and came as a declaration of independence – similar to T.'s newest record.
The single "Hope" out of CTV's The Launch skyrocketed, reaching #4 on the Canadian iTunes Pop charts and #11 overall gaining over 40 thousand streams in the first four days. Between his reality show appearance earlier this year to his latest release, T.'s career has – and continues to, soar to new heights in 2019.
His newly-birthed self-titled album takes listeners on an emotional and transformative journey – both personally and professionally. He says that the songs are a collection built from one another, from reconciling inner-outer life. They’re built from too many nights watching CNN, walks in the woods, unconditional love and unbearable heartbreak. This project follows three previous releases, testosterone hormone therapy and all the changes that came along with it. T. reflects:
“T. Thomason is the result of 4 years of collaboration between myself and producer Dave Henriques. 4 years of growing and learning, massive change - yet many things unchanging, unconditional, no matter what. This record is a snapshot of the ups and downs of chasing dreams which seemed completely impossible at times, coming into self determination and the freedom that brings, and being faced with unfiltered realities of the beautiful/ugly world we find ourselves in, or shut out of, depending on the day. I am so grateful to have a document of this time. Though our experiences are vastly different, Dave was the best collaborator and witness to all of this that I could have asked for. I became T. Thomason as this record was made.”
The album unravels with the astounding anthem "Birdsong" and transcends into the succeeding eight tracks that widely range from lo-fi dark-pop (Loser), electro-rock (Lana's America), mellow ballads (King of Spades / Nuclear Blue) to an acoustic track (Life on the Farm) – holding a consistent dreamy yet beautifully eerie undertone throughout.
"Birdsong" – the first song on the album, was also the first track that T. and producer Dave Henriques began working on back in 2016. The repeated lyricism of "just let me change / new body, new name" directly conveys the inspiration behind the song and even after all the changes T. has gone through, he says that the sentiment remains relevant in his life:
“If I could tell the version of myself who wrote this song that this is where we would end up, I don't think I would have believed me. That's the point. Here we are, despite fear and hatred and misinformation. Look at the sun, look at the sky, look in the mirror. Say thank you. That's what [Birdsong] is about.”
In the accompanying stunning music video for "Birdsong," T. shaves his head – symbolizing his control over his own destiny and embracing change.
T. Thomason draws to an end with the aptly-titled closing track "Bliss" – a ballad about overcoming your fears to find your own happiness. Ending with optimism, the lyrics of "Bliss" – most notably "past all your fears, you will find the bliss" transmit an underlying theme of hope and resilience that resonates through his body of work.
From "Birdsong" to "Bliss," T. showcases his strengths, not only as a singer and songwriter, but as a human. With T.Thomason, T. unveils his music, his story and himself to the world.
"Now that I know who I am, I am excited to share that person with you."
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