After hearing “Lucifer’s Eyes,” the debut song from T.O.L.D., we had to know more about him. So, we asked him a
After hearing “Lucifer’s Eyes,” the debut song from T.O.L.D., we had to know more about him. So, we asked him a few questions, and found out (amongst other things) that he’s a native of Birmingham, England who is now based in L.A. and that he loves steel drums. He also told us (sorry), that the song is, “about the struggle, fear and mourning that comes with the loss of a long held identity, maybe it’s a coming of age song. Maybe it’s about addiction?”
With that explanation the video takes on more meaning, with the lead character, T.O.L.D. himself, seemingly hallucinating and walking dazed through the desert after having eaten some rose petals. Make what you will of it above, and be hopeful for more T.O.L.D. music in the near future.
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T.O.L.D.'s highly conceptual single gets and equally high-concept video treatment from director Garrett Smith. It's good to be alive, even alone.
“Learn to be alone,” 25-year-old Dan Smith sings in “Master of Species,” his latest single as the existential pop guru T.O.L.D.. Or, as the video for the stunning songs suggests, clone yourself and be comfortable with all versions. In director Garrett Smith’s video, the L.A.-based Englishman and “friends” wander through various deserted Southern California locales.
The song is from T.O.L.D.’s forthcoming album “It’s Not About the Witches,” due June 17 on IAMSOUND Records. It’s “the final ‘Hoo Rah!’ of the album,” Smith told Noisey, where the video premiered. “I channeled David Bowie for this one — it came to me pretty much fully formed. Probably the most ambitious track of the album. You’re sitting on your throne looking out at your kingdom, now you have conquered your inner world. Now you must learn to be alone.” Added Curtis: “We talked about the meaning of his song and how he sees being human as a species-privileged. But how to wake people up to the special-ness of being alive and self-aware? People live according to the rule of man, and knowledge is god. During our chat, we concluded that we would go against that idea and cut through self-judging worldly wisdom and live in the experience of laughter and warmth.”
“Heaven,” the first offering from the Birmingham-raised, Los Angeles-based 24-year-old T.O.L.D., premieres here.
“Heaven,” the debut EP from T.O.L.D., runs a bit like a three-act play. It opens with “Lucifer’s Eyes,” a deceptively upbeat electro-pop tune that lays bright steel-drum sounds over pulsing synth lines and warm, dreamy backing vocals — elements that carry into “In Low Light,” which leads with a guitar intro that wouldn’t be out of place in a song by the XX. Like that band’s music, and others to which the project will draw comparison (Tanlines or Discovery, perhaps), the EP, which will be released Nov. 18 and premieres here, finds unexpected balances between lightness and darkness. “You focus on the beauty, but you use the sadness as a skeleton,” says Dan Smith, the 24-year-old Birmingham-born artist behind the project.
The more reflective “Heaven,” which closes the EP, acts as a sort of synthesis of the first two songs — figuratively as well as literally. “That song is kind of an explanation of how I recorded the first two,” Smith says. “I recorded the whole thing in my back garden, in the summer, in England. I’d spend three hours lying in the sun reading, and I would run up to my bedroom and put it down, and then I would go back into the sun. It was a very chilled-out way of working.”
In pursuit of a more permanent version of that mind-set, Smith relocated to Los Angeles a few months ago. (“I think I just really like the sunshine, and I am really bad at learning languages, and I don’t like Australian bros,” he says of how he narrowed down his options.) Smith has been a working musician for nearly a decade — he went on his first U.K. tour at age 16 — but adopted the moniker T.O.L.D., which stands for “The Order of Life and Death,” only this year. “It kind of came to me in a dream,” he says, citing Gustav Klimt’s painting “Death and Life” as an influence, along with philosophers including Pythagoras and Wittgenstein. “I wanted to start, like, a joke cult, and then it became my band’s name,” he says with a laugh. “I think all the best things in life start as jokes, and then they go way too far.”
The Order of Life and Death‘s Daniel James Smith has been experimenting with music since adolescence, self-releasing and collaborating in Birmingham and London’s underground scenes. Inspired by Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt’s ‘Death and Life,’ the producer took on the moniker T.O.L.D. After seeing the painting in the countryside, Dan says “those heavy feelings of …
The Order of Life and Death‘s Daniel James Smith has been experimenting with music since adolescence, self-releasing and collaborating in Birmingham and London’s underground scenes. Inspired by Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt’s ‘Death and Life,’ the producer took on the moniker T.O.L.D. After seeing the painting in the countryside, Dan says “those heavy feelings of darkness and hopelessness turned on their head and seemed suddenly so trivial & small,” leading to his genesis.The 25-year-old British transplant to Los Angeles will release his debut album ‘It’s Not About the Witches’ June 17th via IAMSOUND.Produced by Tom Biller (Kanye West, Sean Lennon, Karen O.) and mixed by Peter Katis (Interpol, San Fermin, Kurt Vile), T.O.L.D.’s new album showcases his deftness at weaving old-school hip-hop with modern electronica, telling stories both personal and poignant. On “2 Young,” Smith sings, “Saw it all when I was too young,” a flashback of painful remembrance. “Now I lay down my head for the end/If my future should return, let me in,” he continues. This progression represents a different phase of his life, the end of the song a conclusion of a personal timeline. “Master of the Species” closes the album with its most ambitious choral tune, leaving listeners with a confident, conclusive tone.Stream “Master of the Species” here: http://www.thefader.com/2016/04/20/told-masters-of-the-species/Alongside a gospel choir, T.O.L.D. blends religious synths and steel drums with lush recordings over a choral backing on “Return Forever” (co-written with Jas from Simian Mobile Disco). This ecstatic mix reflects his belief that music is a spiritual practice and also his penchant for modernizing nostalgia.LISTEN “Return Forever“: http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2016/01/t-o-l-d-return-forever-premiere/
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T.O.L.D's releases new single, "Masters Of The Species."
T.O.L.D. sings about self-actualization on his new song, "Masters of the Species." In a slow melody, he lulls about the power in being alone and accepting things as they come. Towards the end of the song produced by Tom Biller, a gospel choir joins in and coats the track with warm vocals to bring the message home.
The FADER spoke to T.O.L.D. over email about the meaning of the song, who said it was about "coming to terms with the fact I don't have to fight against everything in order to have a fulfilled life. About learning to be alone first."
"If you made it out of the womb," he continued. "You are at the end of a long genetic battle for master of the species. You are the latest & greatest in a long tradition of human beings. And in a way, you've already won. I guess it's a slacker anthem."
