Tom Taylor-Biggs moved to Sheffield two years ago. Originally from Southampton, the singer-songwriter made the decision to seek hibernation in the steel city and write music about the hectic life he’d endured. Since then he has gone on to release a debut EP and today announced his debut album ‘Sevens’. The album sees Taylor-Biggs on a folk-rock exploration, isolated and inflicted by personal grief.
The single ‘Hiding’ was the first introduction to the debut album. Taylor-Biggs’ lyrics reflect an expected but warped perspective on his grieving process. These heartfelt words are elevated with his distinctive and powerful voice. This is accompanied by captivating guitar riffs and a melancholic atmosphere, an excellent opening statement for what is to come.
The album opens up with ‘Impressive Aggressive’ a moody folk track. The repetitive but soothing guitar lines place you in a hypnotic state; subsequently, the appearance of Taylor-Biggs’ distortive and expressive vocals has you hooked. The track slowly builds up and intensifies leaving you wanting more. The next track ‘Inhumanic’ is loud and heavy, an immediate stand-out track just down to pure fierceness of it. The addition of thumping drums patterns and flowing basslines really highlights the magnitude of his music.
The track ‘Zest’ follows up, a poignant and heartrending song about affliction. Next up is ‘Chorreadas’, another prominent track on the album. The track kicks off with thundering drums and a heavy bassline to accompany it. Taylor-Biggs’ twisted vocals then emerge at the forefront and really grabs your attention from the off. The track ‘Elevence’ offers delicate guitar lines, gritty drum work, and female backing vocals to add extra velocity to the already forceful vocals of Taylor-Biggs. The album concludes with ‘Hiding P1’ a heartfelt and touching message unified with dreamy strings.
This album is a well constructed personal account of Tom Taylor-Biggs’ life experiences. The theme couldn’t be more fitting to the uncertain times we currently find ourselves in. In this pandemic age, we often find ourselves pressing pause on life as we know it and looking back into the past to get a sense of who we were and how it will change us in the future, and this album does just that.
