Thomas Powers has finally released his much-anticipated debut solo album A TYRANT CRYING IN PRIVATE.
The celebrated member of The Naked and Famous explores several genres across the album’s 14 tracks, from alternative rock to electronic to neo-classical.
According to Powers, “this record is a new chapter. It’s a vessel for my most personal artistic ideas – a path forward.”
A TYRANT CRYING IN PRIVATE is concerned with themes of embracing domesticity, maturity, and responsibility. “While my 20s were defined by my career with The Naked and Famous, my solo prpject represents a musical reinvention – it’s authentically me,” he says.
Powers was catapulted to global fame thanks to The Naked and Famous’s hits including “Young Blood”, but on his debut solo project, he gets to just be “unapologetically himself.
The album contains a string of hits that started dropping last year, including “Best for You”, “Empty Voices”, which featured US singer-songwriter Julien Baker, and new single “Little Lungs”, made with help from composer Rob Moose. Powers’s fellow New Zealand musician Chelsea Jade also guests on the album, notably on “Li”.
“‘’Little Lungs’ is the sequel to ‘Empty Voices’, which is an insular song about being mentally consumed by conflict, whereas ‘Little Lungs’ is about being far enough away from altercations to find perspective and peace. It’s a reflective song, capturing the feeling of looking backward and viewing something with quiet introspection,” Powers explains.
As for “Empty Voices”, Powers was excited to work with Baker after they first met on Twitter many years ago. During the 2020 lockdown, Powers reached out again to ask if she was interested in collaborating, and the result was “Empty Voices”.
“We blasted through the recording and spent most of our studio time hanging out, watching the sunset up on a hill in Echo Park,” Powers says of the recording process with the boygenius star.
Thomas Powers’s A TYRANT CRYING IN PRIVATE is out now.
