Tomora - Come Closer
See you tomora!
-
2026
-
-
12
The equation is simple. Tomora = Tom + Aurora.
And it's not an equation with 2 unknowns, since they are 2 well-known artists: Tom Rowlands, half of the Chemical Brothers, flagship of English electronic music since the 90s, and Aurora, Norwegian, one of the new queens of international pop for about ten years, who had particularly seduced me with The Gods We can Touch.
The unknown was what the result of this so surprising alliance would be. The combination of the machines of the first and the very high voice close to the stars of the second is very convincing. "The Thing" is in my opinion the best alchemy.
A few minutes are enough to realize that you are here to crush the dance floor, but also that it will often wander around in exaggeration.
Let's admit that the project is a bit crazy, delirious, not to say unpleasant at times ("Ring the Alarm", "In a Minute"). And yet you give in to it. In the same way that you learn on the tongue the pleasure of bitterness, something unthinkable for the child who only likes much more immediate sweet tastes.
Sounds and inventive ideas abound. Just a small example: in "I Drink the Light", which can also be spotted by its Björk side, listen carefully to the extra voice on the left at 2:30.
In a very wide register, the thirty-year-old's singing knows how to be in turn powerful ("Come Closer"), screaming ("Ring the Alarm"), vaporous ("My Baby"), melodious and mystical ("Wavelengths"), elevated and psychedelic ("The Thing"), or even downright masculine, with the help of technology ("A Boy like You") – an opportunity to remember that Agnes Obel had already done the trick.
Contrary to what is common in electro, you will find here a lot of vocal work. None of the tracks will be instrumental. You will hear about separation ("Side by Side"), mourning ("Somewhere Else"), and you will notice a reference to Nina Simone ("My Baby" (just cares for me)). However, the lyrics will be rare and repeated, almost slogans, sometimes turning into pure sounds to the point of fooling the listener. Thus, in its multiple vocal tracks, "Ring the Alarm" intertwines with “Bring me love” to the point that you don't know which one is which!
In this equation you finally have much more than an addition, you have a multiplication.
-
In my opinion, this album is too long, which is its main flaw.
I rarely say that, considering so many albums are too short.
This one could have just as easily ended after "Wavelengths". 9 tracks (41:34) that follow one another, without interruption, like a DJ set (except for the excellent "Have You Seen Me Dance Alone?") Stopping after "Wavelengths" would have been coherent and digestible. But... it would have deprived us of "The Thing", which would have been a shame.In essence, this kind of music is repetitive. Very repetitive. Too repetitive? When do you go from very to too much? To each his own cursor.
Anyway, you watch for the twists, the variations, the little sounds and other loops that come to be added. If you pay attention to all this, it's absolutely pleasing, sometimes crazy, which distinguishes this album from ordinary techno productions.My advice: don't listen to it in one go, cut at least in 2.
-
Have You Seen Me Dance Alone?
The Thing
A Boy like You -
Side by Side
-
-
The sentence
“I wanted to taste the whole world from my palm” ("I Drink the Light")
-
them
-
...And now, listen!
-
-
Created05 September 2026
