As one of the few people who actually got to play a festival ground, via a livestreamed set at Curraghmore House, the site of All Together Now last week (watch the set below), Tolü Makay is on my listening rotation a lot this week.
Coming on the heels of collaborations with Danny G and the Major 7ths, the Cranberries’ ‘Dream’ radio hit cover and Zapho as part of the X Collective, Tolü is as prolific as you can be during a pandemic when there are no public gigs possible.
All of this activity is gearing up towards an EP and debut album due in the coming months.
‘Let Me In’ is a song that came out earlier this year, and like the album, was released by Berlin-based record label Welcome to the New World.
Written by guitarist Barra Mac Mahon and Tolü, ‘Let Me In’ is a song of sexual empowerment and desire, both in tone and in theme, both reinforced by the video’s soft focus sensuality, which we have a first look above. It was directed by the artist.
“Let me in is a song of openness and comfort in the most sensual way possible. I set out to weave a poetic conversation of pleasure.”
Tolü
You can watch the full live band set from All Together Now last weekend and a video conversation between Tolü and her former secondary school art teacher Joe Caslin, which is just the cutest.
More about Tolü Makay
Tolü started singing in church at the age of 8. The simple act of leading a hymn slowly grew into leading praise and worship and eventually assisting the guidance of her local Redeem Church choir at 16. After entering and winning a national gospel singing competition, she began to discover her own voice, becoming bolder and more confident in her power.
Oftentimes, women are viewed in a specific light; good versus bad. Having been brought up in a religious household and viewed quite often in one light, this new single is an expressive form of mirroring both sides. Being open and unapologetic, setting a reminder that humans are too complicated to be boxed into an idea or expectation of what their characters should be like. An act of awakening rebellion in oneself.
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