Adelaide born but now Melbourne resident Allday (the moniker of Tom Gaynor) has gained a sizeable reputation as a rapper and songwriter over the recent years and you can see there is incontrovertible evidence in his new single ‘Void’. Coming off his newly announced album ‘Drinking With My Smoking Friends’, set for release 28 May via Believe, the single and the album mark a change in approach.
‘Void’ is a melodic and lush single with just a hint of yearning and crisp instrumentation based on an acoustic guitar brush: reflecting a deliberate shift by Allday to move away from his rap origins towards an indie pop style. After working with producer Japanese Wallpaper on ‘In Motion’, a track that appeared on his 2017 record Speeding, Gaynor felt compelled to further explore more open, sentimental melodies:
“I came back to Australia from LA and I was working out what comes next. My music has always been somewhat varied: there’s different types of rap, really pop songs, house-y stuff. There was an element, with songs like In Motion, where the tough guy facade came down. So then I thought, ‘Why am I still holding on to that?’
The result is a clear illustration of Allday’s songwriting craft, a beautiful delivery imbued with a dreamy wistfulness and clarity:
In his new album, Gaynor worked with a slew of local musicians, each of whom brought fresh perspective and a trove of skills and experience. Gab Strum (aka Japanese Wallpaper) co-wrote on several songs, and contributed production and mixing; Johnny Took and Matt Mason from DMA’s joined on guitar; Simon Lam of electro outfit KLLO joined Gaynor and Strum to write on the record, as did singer-songwriter Hayley Mary, Delta Riggs’ Michael Tramonte and Elliott Hammond; and Joji Malani, formerly of Gang of Youths, came along for the ride too.
You can preorder the album here.
Allday has also announced a series of gis across most of Australia in August across Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane. Tickets are on sale 9AM Local Time on Thursday 18 March here.
Sat, Aug 07 – Metro City – Perth
Fri, Aug 20 – Enmore Theatre* – Sydney
Sat, Aug 21 – Thebarton Theatre – Adelaide
Fri, Aug 27 – The Forum – Melbourne
Sat, Aug 28 – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane
*Licensed All Ages
