New Music: Tom Adams - Dive

“A body of work full of calm, big spaces, shifting ruminative atmospheres and true beauty,” was how I described Silence, the debut album from Tom Adams in 2017. It was one of my favourite records of the year and to this day remains a hidden gem; one of those records that is still screaming, or rather sighing, to be discovered.

But Adams hasn’t been resting on his laurels. A new album Yes, Sleep Well Death is waiting in the wings and taken from it is this piece of absolute splendour. Dive is a huge statement of intent - a wide-screen and cinematic piece that clocks in at just over 8 minutes long, but never feels like that - frankly it could be 16 minutes and it would still seem too short. Starting from gentle burbling ambient and soft-synth beginnings with choir boy vocals that carry a similarity to Jónsi Birgisson of Sigur Rós the song breaks out halfway through, where rather like the aforementioned Icelandic avant-rock band's best work, Dive launches into the stratosphere with a huge volcanic punch. It's incredibly good. Hoppipolla move over.

Tom doesn’t play many live shows (I was lucky to catch him in Brighton in 2017) but he has confirmed three UK gigs in Norwich, Cambridge and London for November. Go and see him if you get the chance.

Tom Adams - Dive

Favourite Albums of 2017 #4 Tom Adams - Silence

OK, so as we get closer to revealing my favourite record of the year I think now is an opportune moment to say that the top 4 records on this list were all very close to being number 1. There’s very little to choose between them. What made it even harder to choose was that all 4 records are so very different from each other.

But choose I must and so at number 4 is Silence by Tom Adams. It’s a record that I half expected to see crop up on a number of end of year lists, particularly on sites that support lesser known / independent artists, but for reasons unknown that hasn’t happened. 

Silence is Tom’s fully-fledged debut album and one I’ve become fully obsessed with since its Spring release this year. It’s a body of work full of calm, big spaces, shifting ruminative atmospheres and true beauty. It’s tender, celestial and the music, much of it formed through piano chords and ambient electronics manages to be both introspective and expansive at the same time. It’s a record that could appeal to fans of Sigur Ros, Jeff Buckley, Nils Frahm and Coldplay (or at least those who like Coldplay’s softer more intimate moments). 

Silence is such a beautiful thing it requires just that – absolute silence to listen to it. When you find yourself in a quiet space, this one fits perfectly.

Tom Adams - Tides

New Music: Tom Adams - Fade (Ben Lukas Boysen Rework)

Silence by Tom Adams is a truly special album. Quiet, reflective and full of space, it’s a record that in many ways seems out of place in this fast-paced world. It is therefore all the better for it. This song, Fade, isn’t on Silence, but is from the earlier Voyages By Starlight EP. However, it is still very representative of Adams’ sensitive songs that you will find on the debut long player. 

This new rework by Ben Lukas Boysen starts from the most hushed of places and then builds to create something that is akin to Sigur Ros jamming with Nils Frahm, although I’m not sure if jamming is the right word – softly sculpting is probably a better choice. Hang on to every moment of this beautiful piece of work, you won’t regret it.

On his Facebook Tom has posted a small story about the photo above: “Ben and I decided to hit up a vintage photo booth in Berlin to try and get a cuddly team photo for this release. Unfortunately, some passers-by decided to get involved aggressively and this photo captures the moment someone reached into the booth to punch Ben. Proving the adage of 'don’t get a nice guy angry', Ben sorted it out like a champ and we got this shot to commemorate the occasion.” It's hard to imagine two men who create music like this getting into any sort of trouble. For me this is the sound of love.

Tom Adams - Fade (Ben Lukas Boysen Rework)

Review: 5 Acts At Great Escape 2017 That Had The Wow Factor

Brighton’s Great Escape, Europe’s largest new music festival, is like a live version of a new music blog, with over four hundred artists vying for your attention playing shows in clubs, pubs, churches, hotels and other locations of the south coast town. The key word with the Great Escape (much like this year’s event’s weather which went from heavy rain to sun) is variety. In just over 72 hours of being in Brighton I saw indie, country, folk, jazz, pop, soul, funk, disco, rap and many other genres, witnessing 37 full sets.

Of those 37 performances, the quality level was very high and so it’s impossible to say which gigs were the best. However, there’s something very exciting about seeing an artist for the first time and their performance leaving you breathless and giddy. So, whilst I went to shows by acts that I’ve witnessed already such as Alice Jemima, Skott, Casi, Pumarosa, Liv Dawson and Jerry Williams and they were all hugely enjoyable, these five gigs by musicians that I'd not seen before had that ‘wow’ factor that you can only get the first time you see a band or solo performer. They came from all sorts of genres and, reflecting the Great Escape’s truly international curation, from all over the world.

Sigrid (Coalition) Norway

It might have been raining outside, the venue ceiling was dripping inside with leaks but Sigrid just can’t stop winning and spreading sunshine. A superb Later with Jools debut, an outstanding debut EP and positive reviews from critics and fans alike, the new pop lady on the block had a lot to live up to and she delivered. Sigrid was as charismatic and praiseworthy as I’d imagined. Yes, of course Don’t Kill My Vibe gained the biggest cheers but the rest of her set was coated with enough quality to suggest that alongside other new potential pop stars such as Maggie Rogers and Skott, that it’s possibly time for Perry, Gaga and Spears to move to one side. 

Sultan of the Disco (Latest Music Bar) Korea

On entering the Latest Music Bar for a K-Pop Night Out (which actually took place in the afternoon) guests were greeted by friendly Korean hosts and handed glow sticks, cute animal temporary tattoos and leaflets about the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. It clearly wasn’t going to be an ordinary gig by UK standards. And it wasn’t. 

In a sweaty basement bar Sultan of the Disco delighted with non-stop dance routines, classic disco grooves and funk not dissimilar to Chic, The Jackson 5 and Bruno Mars together with a joyful cover version of Ghostbusters; which you can see a clip of by clicking here from my Twitter feed. Dressed in kimono style dressing gowns, shades and headbands the band threw to the audience cuddly toy versions of Soohorang and Bandabi the Winter Olympics 2018 mascots and at one stage lead singer Nahzam Sue played keyboard by being held mid-air by other band mates. Band’s don’t normally do encores at Great Escape, but there was no way the audience was going to let Sultan of the Disco get away without playing one. 100% fun.

The Rhythm Method (Brighthelm) UK

The Rhythm Method (pictured below) are the sort of band that could only come from the UK. Or rather England. More specifically London. They channel The Streets, Madness, Squeeze, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, and The Pet Shop Boys. Lead vocalist Joey told the late night drunken crowd “You don’t want to be here, we don’t want to be here,” whilst looking thoroughly pissed off and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or being serious. They had catchy hooks, bored sounding half spoken-word lyrics that referenced politics, pubs and sex and opened with a song that, if I’m not mistaken, mentioned salad cream. "Play Home Sweet Home," shouted someone in the audience referring to the duo's most well known track. "No," replied Joey. And they didn't. And it didn't matter. You’re either going to love them or hate them and if they get around to releasing an album I suspect there’s the potential for it to be an instant cult classic.

Confidence Man (Komedia) Australia

Confidence Man are a group that make every regular indie rock band, every bland music by formula pop band and every Drake wannabe seem as boring and pointless as ironing socks. Janet Planet, Sugar Bones, Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie came dressed in a baby doll dress, way too-short shorts and two gothic beekeepers hats respectively and for 20 frenetic minutes bombarded the audience with comic strip sassiness, high energy dance routines, (click here for what they were doing) and Lucozade fuelled skilfully crafted electro bubble-gum tunes. That’s all the time it took for Confidence Man to quickly become one of the most talked about bands of the day. I can’t wait to hear and see more.

Tom Adams (Unitarian Church) UK / Germany

Sat at a piano in the corner of the church Tom Adams (pictured below) created the closest thing possible to heaven. Placed somewhere between Phillip Glass and Sigur Ros, Adams’ contemplative modern classical pop with choir boy falsetto voice and soft ambient electronic backing was a beautiful still moment amongst the craziness, the crowds and the energy of much of Great Escape. It was a perfect way to end the Friday evening. He’s already created one of my favourite records of 2017 (Silence), and the live incarnation was just as good.

The 37 artists I saw at Great Escape and Alt-Escape 2017 were: 

Benny & The Hair Nets, Fable, Porshyne, Confidence Man, Jade Bird, The Van T's, Be Charlotte, Liv Dawson, Songe, Swimming Tapes, Sigrid, Shitkid, Nilufer Yanya, Tom Grennan, Cosima, Salen, The Rhythm Method, Flamingods, Slotface, Rosie Carney, Hazel English, Childhood, Matt Woods, Wrabel, Sarathy Korwar, Julie Byrne, Tom Adams, Alice Jemima, Bokito, MC Sniper, Sultan of the Disco, Jerry Williams, Matt Maeson, Off Bloom, Casi, Skott, Pumarosa

Preview: The Great Escape 2017 (Part 2.1 - Music Tips)

With less than a couple of weeks until 450 bands and solo performers and 1000s of punters descend to the seaside in Brighton for the annual orgy of new music that is The Great Escape, most music geeks will already have worked out their must sees, possible sees and might sees, with spreadsheets, apps and good old fashioned bits of paper being utilised to work out their timetables.

If you’re one of those people then this post isn’t for you. However, if you are organised but haven’t been to Great Escape before you might want to check out Breaking More Waves practical tips guide for making the festival work for you by clicking this link here.

If you’ve been less industrious in your timetabling or are looking at the full list of artists and are thinking ‘I only know about 4 of these’ then this post is for you. Put your trust in Breaking More Waves and allow this blog to act as your filter. With no messing, I’m recommending 10 acts playing Great Escape 2017 that come with the Breaking More Waves seal of approval – 5 are featured in this post and 5 in a further post published tomorrow. There should be no surprises that they’ve all featured in some form on the site before.

1. Confidence Man (Australia)

The fact that the two front persons in Australia’s Confidence Man are called Janet Planet and Sugar Bones should be enough to recommend them to you without any further information, but if I add in on point dance routines, pop songs that buzz so hard with energy that they might explode into confetti showers at any point and more fun than you thought humanly possible, then you’ll understand why Confidence Man are one of the must sees of Great Escape. Take a look at the live video below and you’ll see exactly what I mean. Novelty pop maybe, but life (and therefore music) doesn't always have to be serious.

Komedia 12.10pm May 18th
Sticky Mike's Frog Bar 23.30pm May 18th
Horatio's Bar 13.30pm May 20th




2. Jade Bird (UK)

Jade Bird was the subject of an introducing post on Breaking More Waves in Summer 2016 and still there’s been no official single or EP release. Yet with slots supporting the likes of Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Tom Odell and Mahalia and a number of festival slots besides Great Escape confirmed (Latitude, Bushstock, Field Day) Jade is clearly working towards that. Catch her mix of acoustic folk, country Americana and pop early.

Patterns (Upstairs) 13:15pm May 18th 
Prince Albert 22.30pm May 20th



3. Sigrid (Norway)

In 2015 one of the main highlights of my Great Escape was Norway’s Aurora whose mesmerising performances were so good I ended up seeing her twice. Norway could win again in 2017 with another single named pop star. Sigrid’s Don’t Kill My Vibe has already been a huge on line hit and Great Escape is her’s for the taking.

Coalition 20.00pm May 18th
Wagner Hall 16.30pm May 19th



4. Rosie Carney (Ireland)

Rosie Carney is another artist that first featured on Breaking More Waves in 2016. Making beautifully poignant songs awash with meaning and melancholy, Rosie will appeal to those who love the music of the likes of Billie Marten, Lucy Rose and Laura Marling.

Jubilee Square - 13.45pm May 19th



5. Tom Adams (Germany)

His debut album Silence was largely recorded in his one bedroom flat in Berlin and is already one of my favourites of the year. It’s a quiet and gentle record formed largely of soft piano, ambient electronics and Tom’s haunting falsetto that transports you to another place. Thankfully his one show at Great Escape is in a church – which seems the perfect location for his music. If you want something far away from the rock ‘n’ roll shenanigans of much of Great Escape, mark down Tom Adams as one to watch.

Unitarian Church 22.30pm May 19th

New Music: Introducing - Tom Adams

The world is a non-stop, take it all, hectic kind of place. Sometimes it feels like it’s all about to spin out of control. That’s why we need the music of artists like Tom Adams.

Cambridge born, but now residing in Germany, Adams’ music possesses the sort of tender beauty that might not only stop you in your tracks, but the whole world. Combining his gorgeous celestial vocals, melancholy piano chords and ambient electronics, these are songs that find a place alongside the likes of Nils Frahm and A Winged Victory For The Sullen for their breathless power and tranquillity, yet still have an accessibility that could comfortably sit alongside popular songs like Coldplay’s Fix You or Tom Odell’s Sense.

Having released his debut EP last year, Adams is due to release Silence, his long player on the 5th May via Kowloon Records. One of the songs that will feature on that LP is Come On, Dreamer, which not only should feature on every single Most Beautiful Songs In The World Ever playlist and compilation, but is accompanied by a stunning video that shows that below someone’s very straight appearance there might be a solitary yearning for something far more primitive and back to nature. 

Besides Come On, Dreamer Adams has released another song, Sparks, which over its six minutes will make you want to shut your eyes and just take it all in. 

Press pause on the world for a short time and listen to Tom Adams.

Tom will be playing live in the UK next month with a confirmed date at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival.

Tom Adams - Sparks

Tom Adams - Come On, Dreamer (Video)