A Mood of Its Own

No One Moves

Not in the Slightest

"Maze" is the second single from Toby Whyle's debut album. The song addresses the discrepancy between the constant urge for self-improvement and "letting yourself go". It seems like a never-ending dilemma: living in the moment versus carefully planning everything.
Often, everyday life feels like being caught in a loop and navigating predefined tracks— merely out of habit, we accept things exactly as presented to us. At the same time, we're constantly urging for self-optimisation. We strive to increase productivity and move forward rapidly to turn into the best versions of ourselves, to be finally rewarded with what we expect to be pure happiness and joy.
The relentless quest for who and where we could be is reinforced by a shimmering range of approaches and solutions. But isn't this in-between state somehow condemned to knock us back to square one eventually? What are we supposed to hold on to? Who says what's right and wrong and how we should feel? The song's chorus loudly demands answers to these questions. In the end, however, similar to a maze, it might come down to finding the right path for yourself.

Maze

Call It a Night

Gave My All

What a Ride

One step forward, two steps back? There are some mistakes that we just don’t seem to want to learn from—obstacles we keep putting in our own way. Since it can often feel quite pleasant to just wallow in self-pity, we tend to chalk things up to fate—even though they’re actually in our own hands and no one else can fix things for us.

With his new single, “Pity”, Toby Whyle encourages us to look forward again, to get up and try once more, and to overcome the bruised ego constantly telling us “to give it a rest. Your attempts are in vain.” The chorus of the song is a wake-up call to our inner selves: “I’ll steer through this on my own. Gotta sort it out for myself, you know?” With stubborn persistence, the beat steadily pushes forward and the tune’s optimistic melody induces an awakening.

Pity

Writing songs has always been quite natural and ever-present in Toby Whyle’s life. And he’s written plenty of them over the last decade. However, what’s new is the realisation that songwriting is one of his few means to slow down the bright and fast-paced world surrounding us. Driven by the urge to create and develop something new, he started to write again. And suddenly, this feeling of being able to pause time came out more intense and immediate than ever.

In this way, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist manages to stand back from the constant rush, carving out space to move freely at his own pace. “​Each song is an empty room, and I can decide for myself how I’m going to furnish it. It might get rather chaotic with stuff piled up to the ceiling, then again there’s almost nothing in it​”, he describes his approach to songwriting. For him, creating melodies, crafting music and lyrics is not just a means of reflecting on situations he finds himself in but also a tool of handling them. Toby’s music strives to affect and inspire people in all the different phases in life, as his songs are also a result of the diverse situations he’s gone through.

Aesthetics and craftsmanship play a crucial role in Toby Whyle’s creative process, from crafting songs, recording and producing them, and building and maintaining a particular visual language. He aims to create high-quality and exceptional music that enthuses and delights people, which sparks energy and conveys a certain feeling.

Pity

Toby Whyle

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