Australian-born UK resident MF Tomlinson will be releasing a new album entitled ‘Die To Wake Up From a Dream’ on 11 July via PRAH Recordings.
The new single of the album, ‘I’m On The Border’, is a deliciously melancholy observation of finding stability, infused with the feelings of alienation and anxiety as a palimpsest for the resilience of love.
With the weeping, sweeping stings and reflective pace, it’s a beautiful treatise on a real life experience of nearly being deported from the UK but developed into something more universal. He says:
I began writing this song in 2014 during one of the worst periods of my life, when I was fighting to earn the rights to continue to live in the UK. Lyrically, the song is purely about my personal experience, but as the recording progressed, I began to channel the incredible sadness I was feeling about the conflict that surrounds us into the arrangement.
The experiences I’m describing in this song shone a light on how hidden, often invisible, the injustice of how our borders are controlled really was to so many around me. My case is the best case example – the tip of the iceberg. I’m one of the lucky people who have been successful in gaining citizenship, for many it is impossible. I would love it if this could be a window into just how emotionally devastating these systems can be, to keep those who are in real peril closer in mind, to resist those who want to make our world smaller, and to remember just how lucky we are.
The lyrics symbolise the human condition of those without a home or stability, sadly an ever increasing blight across the world:
How can they tear us apart? The answer is – they can’t
There’s an aching beauty to the track with the little splashes of vocalisation and a choral harmony adding an ethereal, slightly mysterious edge. Tomlinson’s vocals are as deep and sonorous as ever, adding a brilliant lustre.
The track comes with a gorgeous visualiser by Andrea Zvadova where the lone figure of Tomlinson is in a bleak pool of water, floating, swimming, sometimes claustrophobically smothered as a symbol of the pain:
‘I’m On The Border’ is out now and available to download and stream here.
You can pre-order the new album here and through the link below.
MF Tomlinson live dates:
12 July – Drift Records, Totnes (Daytime solo in-store and signing)
13 July – David’s Music, Letchworth (Daytime solo in-store and signing)
15 July – London, Rough Trade East (Evening full band in-store and signing)
20 July – Bristol, Rough Trade Bristol (Daytime solo in-store and signing)
Feature Photograph: Andrea Zvadova
