Checked Out

“I wanted to make an album that gave people hope; an album that said, the worse things get, the more we need to find the wonder in life.  In these difficult times, optimism isn’t naive, it’s imperative to our survival.”   

Friday 7th October Luxembourg-Based Experimental Electro Artist Tobisonics releases his debut album, ‘We Need Light in the Dark’.  

“We Need Light in the Dark” arrives on the back of two single releases; Opening track, “Panic” [Friday 5th August]; “..gives you elements of Pet Shop Boys, early Daft Punk, Erasure” [The Songbird/In Your Ears Music ‘Track of the Day’]; “it made me think of what I love in Daft Punk, Giorgio and Public Service Broadcasting” by Martha Richler [Resonance FM].  And “How Do You Say Life is Wonderful?” [Friday 2nd September], “it will give a special feeling to your Friday night, it sounds like a fast trip towards an intergalactic road” by Zone Nights [Translated from Spanish].

April 2021, Tobi began work on what was intended to be 4 - 5 Track EP in collaboration with Spoken Word Artist Wee Scots Poet.  When the collaboration didn’t work out, Tobi needed to find a voice; and so he turned to vocal samples, as he had done with his first single, “All These Things”.  Using recycled voices from old public service announcements and B Movie Sci Fi, Tobi found he was able to hide in plain sight.  The album quickly developed into a far more personal story than he had ever intended.  The lessons he had learned from his own struggles with chronic depression/anxiety and PTSD, and the lessons he was still trying to learn.

Having spent his increasingly volatile teenage years in a series of awful/awesome indie guitar bands; music fell away in Tobi’s early 20s, as he wrestled with his, as yet undiagnosed, mental health problems. By his mid-30s, Tobi felt trapped, evermore socially isolated, every turn leading to thoughts of suicide.  A last roll-of-the-dice appointment with a Psychiatrist finally led to regular therapy sessions and medication.  Years of repressed emotions and music welled up inside Tobi.  The slow grind of his recovery and music-making evolved together.

Nominated Radio WigWam Best Electro Act 2021, Tobi’s music has been played by DJ Tobi Lynn of Amazing Radio US, featured in Fresh on the Net’s Fresh Faves [Batch 390], as well as attracting the attention of Abbie McCarthy [BBC Radio 1] “Enjoyed listening to this, ace production 👏🏼” and Jaguar [BBC Intro Dance Radio 1/Mix mag] “This is everything. I want more.”

‘We Need Light in the Dark’ is out on all platforms on Friday 7th October.

All I Ever Wanted

Friday 5th August Luxembourg-Based Indie Electronic Artist Tobisonics releases his debut LP ‘We Need Light in the Dark’ on an exclusive early release via Bandcamp [Official Release Friday 7th October All Platforms].

Never intended to be autobiographical, but rather an exploration of the imperative of optimism; Tobi gradually realized ‘We Need Light in the Dark’ was, in truth, about the lessons he had learned during his ongoing recovery from chronic depression/anxiety and PTSD, and the lessons he was still trying to learn. 

“I wanted to make an album that said, the worse things get, the more we need to find the wonder in life.  In doing so, I ended up talking about my own journey from a dead-end life to my debut LP.”

‘We Need Light in the Dark’ came together over a period of 15 fraught months; Tobi pushed himself to higher standards musically and technically, while enduring, terrible mood swings as memories and feelings he had buried deep inside himself were dredged up and exposed, raw and ever-painful.

“I was a mess during the making of ‘We Need Light in the Dark’.  I wasn’t sleeping much and when I did sleep, it was only for a few hours. 9 months into it, and I’d tripled my anti-anxiety dosage just to get through the day.”  

When the initial intention to build upon the collaboration with Wee Scots Poet quickly proved unworkable; Tobi instead fell back on what he had first tried with his debut single, ‘All These Things’, concocting the lyrics from a ragtag assortment of Vocal loops, B-Movie Quotes, and Vocoders.

“It’s liberating to express myself through other voices.  I can hide in plain sight.  The subjects I touch upon in ‘We Need Light in the Dark’ are so personal, so painful, I could never find words for them in my own head.”

Having spent his increasingly volatile teenage years in a series of awful/awesome indie guitar bands; music fell away in Tobi’s early 20s, as he wrestled with his, as yet undiagnosed, mental health problems. By his mid-30s, Tobi felt trapped, evermore socially isolated, every turn leading to thoughts of suicide.  A last roll-of-the-dice appointment with a Psychiatrist finally led to regular therapy sessions and medication.  Tobi found himself flooded with years of repressed emotions and the music fell out of him.  The slow grind of his recovery and music-making evolved together.

Nominated Radio WigWam Best Electro Act 2021, Tobi’s music has been played by DJ Tobi Lynn of Amazing Radio US, featured in Fresh on the Net’s Fresh Faves [Batch 390], as well as attracting the attention of Abbie McCarthy [BBC Radio 1] “Enjoyed listening to this, ace production 👏🏼” and Jaguar [BBC Intro Dance Radio 1/Mix mag] “This is everything. I want more.”

“I hear a lot of music that is so easy to consume, it’s like sonic wallpaper.  I want to make music that demands attention, that provokes a reaction.” 

‘Panic’ is out on all platforms Friday 5th August; the opening track of Tobi’s debut LP, ‘We Need Light in the Dark’; an exploration of the lessons learned by Tobi during his ongoing recovery and the lessons he is still trying to learn. ‘We Need Light in the Dark’ is out on an exclusive early release via Bandcamp on Friday 5th August and out on all platforms on Friday 7th October.

How Do You Say Life Is Wonderful?

Vocals by Molly Johnston
Music & Lyrics by Shadowbanned
Lead Guitars by Nicky V
Rhythm Guitars, Bass Guitar, & Shaker by Riccardo Mazzaglia
Strings & Keyboards by @philipp-kraetzer

If I Forget Your Face, Love

It’s hard to see the vision in the heat
But that’s where all the self-made men retreat
Sand and sky a wasteland of desire
Desolation comes to hone you

Now who would find romance in risks alone?
Seems you’ll have do it on your own
Grimacing with pride he turned around and said--
“Sorry I could not convince you.”

That’s why, you will always falter
At that, sacrificial altar
where old names can die a good death
fantasies of rebirth from the land

This barren earth is opportunity
I’ll take and make without impunity
Trust I’ll find an aquifer so full
the flooded fields show my reflection

Eating everything is how we grow
Gardens from the scarlines in the soil
Little bit of ego makes the work so fun
Just another dying project on the run

Patience it wavers, it can’t be the goal
Like a lost little migrating bird headed north
Security gone from the bonds in your circles
Make no mistake cause the maintenance was on you
As you always, always
found your own mirage to call your dream

That’s why, you will always falter
At that sacrificial altar
Now you’ve made yourself a stranger
Tremble into self-made danger

Mirage Forward

Bobby Kennedy

LYRICS

i was dealt a hand
& i’m like hit me again
but mr blackjack 
played me again
where is lady luck
is she on my side?
as i roll these dice in my hand
lady luck, are you cheering for me?

and I’m always losing
rolling by
chasing dirty highs
bracing myself
for the crash down

like thunder
in & out one ear 
like crashign down 
like thunder
I dont know who I am
i’m lost up here
& i’m losing myself
deep inside the clouds
inevitably crashing down
like a wave of thunder

cards in the deck
i deal myself shuffled
now the play will go
whichever way it goes
Imma play for me
No more hazy clouds above me
Ignoring my needs
Giving myself the time

Projecting all my insecurities 
Up high
Making the clouds cover me
from the inside
Deafening me like 
a crash of thunder

Tell myself that i gotta try
to enjoy the ride
when i’m always 
getting lost up high

No need to be high(x2)

Every night i close my eyes
i dream of being free from me
(From the grip of me)

I dont wanna 
be that guy,
who’s always high

crashing down like thunder
in & out one ear, like
I gotta listen to me
Get out them clouds,
back on the ground
No more playing me
like blackjack, yeah
I don’t wanna crash down

Like a wave of thunder
in & out one ear like, 
crashing down like thunder
in & out one ear like, 
crashing down like thunder
in & out one ear like, 
crashing down like thunder

Thunder

Paper Thin

Excited to share a new song, "Lemon" with you. This song is the result of a collaboration with singer and songwriter Ida Fox. You can find her other work on Spotify and SoundCloud. We were going for a chill Indie Dance vibe. Hope you enjoy!

<a href='https://theartistunion.com/tracks/979cea'>Download for free on The Artist Union</a>

Lemon (feat. Ida Fox)

“The Forest is about the giddy feelings of magic you experience at the very early stages of a relationship.”

Deep Sea Fire
Facebook - www.facebook.com/DeepSeaFire/
SoundCloud - @deepseafire
Instagram - www.instagram.com/deepseafire

The Forest

Deep Sea Fire - The Forest

Shadowbanned creates timeless, genre-restless pop songs. Shadowbanned is producer/songwriter Chris Sizemore, joined by an ever-evolving cast of soulful vocalists and musicians from all across the world. Sizemore, a native of Nashville USA and now expat near Manchester UK, was producer/multi-instrumentalist in Brooklyn dream-pop group @folksongsfortheafterlife .

If I Forget Your Face, Love

Shadowbanned

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