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CMU Approved
Approved: Tolliver
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 16 August 2018
Ahead of the release of his debut EP later this year, Tolliver has released the second single from it, ‘Emmanuel’. Masterfully built out of pulsing vocal samples and swelling synths, creating a bed for his soft but striking voice, it is the work of an artist ready to be lauded.
The dark R&B sound he has envisioned for himself was apparent on early demoes, but on his latest tracks he’s really got to grips with the balance and structure of what he’s going for. Previous single ‘I Gotchu’, like the new track, manages to be sparse and complex at the same time, with an incredible intimacy. Although that intimacy does not always deliver quite the message you’d expect.
Of ‘Emmanuel’, Tolliver explains: “It’s about having sex with strangers and getting tested over and over, panicking and thinking every cough, every sore throat is a sign of death, then going ahead and doing it all over again – ‘paranoia’ is the word of the day. The video replicates that cycle; I start off alone in glory under that blue light, get all gussied up in the mirror, only to panic and cut my dick off, and end up wailing in the night. Then it’s right back to the blue light”.
Watch the video for ‘Emmanuel’ here:
