New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Yorkshire-based newcomer Aidan Tulloch's new release is the ultimate blend of pop, alternative, R&B and instrumental.
A composer, writer, and recording artist, Tulloch writes gritty and intimate contemporary music for the fever pitches of everyday life. Sometimes breezy, sometimes nocturnal, and as approachable as it is achingly romantic, his output is made to soundtrack euphoric nights, lazy mornings, and sun-soaked afternoons. His poems have been broadcast on BBC
Radio 3 and 4, and performed live by Carol Ann
Duffy as poet laureate. In 2020, he won the Kinsella Prize for the best poem written by a member of the University of Cambridge.
His brand new record, Us & Oblivion which is out on Friday plays like a scrapbook, with glimpses into Aidan's past, present and future carefully scattered throughout. It includes recordings of his Cambridge room window (The Start is a
State of Mind), his own footsteps on a Yorkshire backstreet (Television Portrait), and even a guitar line from an old recording of his teenage band (You're Home). There are still touches of the big euphoric sound that defined last year's breakout EP, as well as glimpses of a melodic, LA scene-inspired escapism that hint to the influence of iann dior, Blackbear, and, perhaps most closely, Khalid.
"I'm calling it a 'record' or a 'project'. It's nowhere near collaborative enough or fully-formed to be my 'debut album'. It's more casual and nocturnal — it just happened by itself over the course of a year without me pushing it in a certain direction."
Written during a pivotal period of reflection, feature track mezzanine/still sees Aidan brushing close with the idea of maturity and stability. Fraught lyrics talk of travel, busy cities and memories of being lost on Clay Pit Lane in Leeds and are juxtaposed with an overall feeling of being settled. Aidan captures a spirit of calm found in staying in, getting up at a normal time, making breakfast or sitting on the kitchen floor with someone. Ballad style piano and reassuring strings are elevated with sweet electric guitars which nod to
Aaron Dessner (The National) for a big oxytocin-inducing track, which is ultimately a love song.
"I love this song, it's quite understated and it says something that I needed to say. It's also trying to work out what home is, from something that's pretty straightforward for a lot of life, but then suddenly has to be thought about, and pieced together by yourself on your own terms."
