The duo Tomora—the portmanteau of Tom Rowlands and Aurora—expresses their fondness for trip-hop and house with playful wit on a debut album that provokes relentless feverish pulses.
Artists who meet at a festival, forge connections, and tease the idea of collaboration don’t, in themselves, make front-page news. Yet sometimes it matters. Because a friendship becomes real. Because projects come to life. And because these ventures stem more from creative pleasure than from publicity stunts or fan-base sharing.
When Aurora crossed paths with the Chemical Brothers on the outskirts of Glastonbury in 2016, the instinct was to push further: after she contributed to three tracks on the Britons’ ninth album (No Geography, 2019), a record she has admired since the Hanna soundtrack (Hanna, 2011), Tom Rowlands took part in co-producing two tracks on the Norwegian’s latest long-form work (What Happened To The Heart?). Nothing in that encounter hinted at the vertigo of this first joint album, which embraces changing moods and shifts from hazy trip-hop to big-beat melodies, from contemplative interludes to anthems with warm bass, ready to seize the dancefloors in the sets of the era’s best DJs.
The duo’s intelligence lies in not offering the “meeting of two different worlds,” nor simply stacking a pre-programmed collage of sounds that contrast with Aurora’s powerful, incantatory voice. Everything on Come Closer has been meticulously conceived, arranged to evoke a sense of progression, a controlled universe, a narrative that never drags you unwillingly onto the dancefloor, nor loses itself in tracks that lean too operatic.
A Hit-Filled Album
If the title track—with a style Björk might have approved of in her Big Time Sensuality era—Wavelengths or The Thing outline the contours of a celestial pop cathedral, serving spectral atmospheres, it is Ring The Alarm, My Baby, Have You Seen Me Dance Alone?, Somewhere Else and I Drink the Light that anchor this surprising and noteworthy album. Surprising because one wouldn’t have pictured Aurora and Tom Rowlands tracing Björk’s steps (during the Big Time Sensuality period) or pairing oriental synths with a psychedelic rhythm. Noteworthy because this debut is built around intimate hits that bring crowds together on a shared journey, guiding listeners toward the same dreams on a single record.
Come Closer (Polydor/Universal). Released April 17.
