Tom Tripp returns with “Ring”.
Tom Tripp is back with a confessional and soul-baring new ballad “Ring”. The track follows the recently released “TAM” and “Glow”, and hints at another side to the North Londoner’s genre-defying new collection “Flag”. “Ring” reflects on the sour end of a relationship, in which Tom finally owns up to being the bad guy. With minimal production and his vocals at the forefront, its infectious chorus sees him belting: “I put my hands up high, some things just sting my pride. But it’s true, I swear I’m sorry”.
“I was in a very bad mental state last year and it affected everything from my social life, relationships and my music,” Tom explains. “I would over think everything to a point where I just wouldn’t do anything. I ended a relationship with someone in a bad way and it’s something I still regret, so this song is basically about me admitting my faults and taking responsibility”.
Co-written with award winning songwriter Eg White – whose writing credits include Adele’s “Chasing Pavements” amongst countless other hits – “Ring” sees Tom delivering a song that will appeal to those who have been following his journey from bedroom producer and blog darling, while demonstrating his pop sensibilities, ambition, and showing off his vocal range. “We made sure every line meant something,” says Tom of the process. “And I’ve never sung like this on a record before, so I’m proud that we created this together. It’s a bit different to what I make usually, but that’s the whole point in making music for me: expressing myself in whatever way feels right”.
After racking up over six million streams with his independent debut EP “Red” – following the tastemaker favourite “Aurelia” released via NAO’s Little Tokyo Recordings and Mura Masa collab helpline (for which he received a Grammy nomination) – Tom signed a major label deal with Polydor and set to work on his second EP. He made the decision to scrap the first version of that, tentatively titled “Black”, after being involved in a car accident and suffering from depression. It proved to be a necessary process for Tom to be able to rise from the ashes with a a brand new collection that he believes encompasses what he represents artistically. “My inner soul was like, ‘Nah, you don’t like this” he recalls. “I thought, ‘Let’s just reset, let me have a fresh start and look again at what I want to do with music, and what I want people to know about me”.
The making of “Flag” proved to be a healing process. “My favourite part of being an artist is getting out exactly what I’m going through in my head on a microphone,” he says. “I’ve clearly got my thoughts on track, on record for the world to hear and people can relate to that how they want. It’s a release for me. It’s kind of selfish actually; it’s not for you, you can enjoy it, but this is for me”.
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