‘You know I’m the one’.
At first sight, this sounds like an awesome and mouthwatering creative recipe. To begin, take one well-established Australian DJ/record producer named Thomas Olsen – A.K.A. ‘Tommy Trash’ – who has been seasoning nicely since 2006 and is well regarded by such esteemed authorities as Tiësto, David Guetta, Afrojack, Laidback Luke and Swedish House Mafia. Secondly, add the energy of one very talented, international award-winning, Canadian multi-instrumentalist/singer called Kiesa Rae Ellestad – A.K.A. ‘Kiesza’. The resulting mix is certainly very appetising.
Both Tommy and Kiesza have been off the grid in recent years with key, dramatic events back in 2017. Firstly, Tommy decided to turn his back on music, after more than a decade in the business, and took a three year sabbatical to South America; suffering from physical and emotional exhaustion. According to the press release for this single, ‘Finding balance has been of the utmost importance when it comes to Tommy’s career regeneration and personal fulfillment. In 2021, the artist is set on doing things in a different way, “the Tommy way,” he says. The world renown artist is back and his cup is full; he’s making music for himself, not the machine’.
In the same year, Kiesza suffered a devastating car crash which left her with a debilitating brain injury and unable to perform, sing or even physically move. Thus, this new single, released on July 15th, via hau5trap, symbolises a powerful return to music for them both.
‘Tectonic’, released on Thursday, August 5th, begins with some dreamy synth sequencer, surrounded by a gloriously-etheric guitar sound and a steady tempo. Nine seconds later, Kiesza’s voice imposes itself and the tempo takes a more upbeat turn, although her vocals within the verses remain calm and steady. However, when we get to the chorus, Kiesza begins to let rip and shows off the depth of her vocal range.
In her own words, Kiesza says: ‘I began ‘Tectonic’ as a folk song on my mother’s grand piano and Tommy Trash took the song to a level I could have never imagined. I love how the unique combination of the deep poetic lyrics and haunting melody combines so effortlessly with Tommy’s energetic and driving electronic house music, to create the most beautiful sense of melancholy. I’m blown away by his creativity and talent as a producer and definitely can not wait to create more music with him!’.
The end result here is a perfect balance of cool, transcendental vocals and exudes a pumping, melodic beat that makes it very hard to sit still when it’s playing. It will be very much worth the wait to see what else this creative Australian/Canadian pair can conjure up in the future.
‘Tectonic’ is out now on Hau5trap Records
Follow Tommy Trash on Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Find out more about Kiesza on her official website
Review by Kev Milsom
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