Friday, April 24
Tourist
$27.50 Adv. / $32 Day of / 18+ / Doors: 8pm / Show: 9pm
English songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist William Phillips’s music as Tourist is aptly named. For the past decade, he’s taken a solo journey across electronic music in search of the perfect beat.
Growing up in London and Cornwall, he fell in love with rave music played on pirate radio transmissions and club sound systems: Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers and Goldie turned him onto a whole new world. And later, as his own musicality developed, he gravitated towards the melodies of house and synth pop, which have shaped the Tourist sound.
With his fifth album, Tourist has traveled to a faraway point on his musical map, in his constant search for what the perfect song could be. He no longer makes tracks indebted to the rough ‘n’ ready dancefloor jams that defined his youth, designed for booming rave sound systems, but “wordless songs” inspired by his fond memories of them, for closer listening: “I want this album to be a place you go and visit often, and where you find new, little things in it every time you go.”
Para fãs de: Eletrônico, Indie & Alternativo, Pop, e Funk & Soul.
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Having learned to play the piano from the age of three, the musician began writing his own songs aged 10, discovering his insatiable passion for music. Unable to go out to listen to dance music due to his age, Phillips would scour the internet for pirate radio stations, finding the hottest most emotive dance numbers. The young talent made his personal impact on the music industry with his debut Tourist EP “Tourist” released in March 2012. Introducing Phillips’ danceable yet melodically emotive sound, the EP earned strong reviews upon its release.
The electronic artist went on to release his sophomore EP “Tonight” in 2013 proving extremely popular in the online blogosphere. Marked by synth-inspired vocal accompaniments and more compelling, climatic soundscapes, the record introduced the musician to a much wider audience. Following a period of touring in which time Phillips honed his live skills, Tourist returned in 2014 in what would prove to be a massive year for the London-native. The EP “Patterns” arrived in April 2014 once again showing the huge development in the musician’s style and abilities. Combining the influences of house, UK garage, gospel, and soul music, the record featured singer Lianne La Havas on the titled track, as well as vocalist Will Heard.
On top of his own releases, Phillips co-wrote the Grammy Award winning Sam Smith single “Stay With Me”, which became one of the sounds of 2014 and catapulted Sam Smith to international recognition. The songwriter later contributed to Jessie Ware’s album “Tough Love” on the single “Pieces”, showcasing the many strings to Phillips’ bow.
At an average length of six minutes per track, self taught pianist, Tourist, aka William Phillips is making some of the best pieces of electronic music I've heard in quite a while. Personal favourite 'Your Girl' is an emotional, piano key led masterpiece whike new track 'Together' is a fast paced more club friendly number. His latest 'Patterns' E.P features collaborations with Lianne La Havas on the title track and Will Heard lending his soulful vocals on 'I Can't Keep Up' who you may know for singing on Klangkarussell's chilled summer hit 'Sonnantanz (Sun Don't Shine)', and he does as brilliant a job here for Tourist. I was luckily enough to see him live earlier this year at Live at Leeds. Live, the tracks feel like separate pieces of art, taking their time to build with space for them to breathe. Starting with the underlying beats before vocals are added and the whole track comes together. This is best demonstrated during his remix of Chvrches 'Lies', it sounds nothing like the original. Instead, its an emotional reworking with Lauren Mayberry's Glaswegian vocals calling out, full of heartache. Electronic music with real soul and emotion - Tourist is the master of it!