Tamu Massif – Looking Over Houses

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Tamu Massif’s long-awaited second album Late To My Funeral is due for release 12th August and he now releases final single ‘Looking Over Houses’. The Bristol based songwriter & producer spent the last few years developing more experimental techniques building on a wide range of electronic, pop and R&B influences but has tapped into something special on his new material by writing in a different way. He explains:

“For a long time, I would compose a heavily layered instrumental and then add vocals afterwards. Recently, I've been trying to do it the other way round: writing the song on guitar first and then having fun with the production – adding things to compliment and embellish the original idea. I've consciously made an effort to change my process and have been really enjoying playing acoustic guitar again. I feel like the best songs tend to work in a stripped back form – so starting from that point leaves you with something a bit more raw and vulnerable.”

Tamu Massif has a longstanding reputation as a producer and mentor to emerging artists on the Bristol scene, his earliest work producing Fenne Lily’s debut album testament to his skill at finding atmosphere and the beauty in sparseness.

On ‘So Kin’, for example,Tamu borrowed rain drops on a tent for percussion, their natural applause accentuates the wonder in embracing typically bad weather.

“I wrote the main guitar riff for 'So Kin' late one night while staying up making music with my long-time collaborator and/or friend Max Blomfield aka Twinsen. There was something in the sound of it that felt reminiscent of rain drops falling. The words are me doing what us Brits do best: talking about the weather” Tamu jokes. “It was part-inspired by a specific walk with my brother in the Lake District. We started the walk in the small village of Borrowdale, checking out some of our family gravestones dating back to the 1800's. We were soaked through within minutes of the walk but it was great. There's something quite humbling and invigorating about being out in the rain.”

This vulnerability shines through clearly on his recently released acoustic offerings ‘Old Times’, ‘First To Know’ and ‘Get Up’. These follow a series of extended singles from 2020, including ‘Let your Hair Down’, ‘Heathen’ and ‘I Feel You, Atlas’. A stunning live session for his 3 part single ‘Heathen’ can be seen here.

Tamu Massif released his debut album Little Death Summer 29th March 2019 on Chiverin Records. Reflecting on the process, he explains “I find listening to music a sort of escapism. And that's what I set out to create... something to get lost in.”

Garnering attention over the course of two earlier EPs, Alba & Bala, as well as tours with the Japanese House, C Duncan and Shakey Graves, Tamu is admired for his talent at gathering and warping field recordings as much as for his gift with harmonies and song-writing.