Total Tommy Finds a Penpal in Her Teenage Self on “ADELINE” | Tracks

Like the emotionally charged ending of a final episode of RuPaul's Drag Race where queens are tasked with preparing a speech for their childhood, or the nostalgic warmth you feel while rummaging through shoeboxes filled with teenage memories, Total Tommy's latest track, “ADELINE,” draws out its narrative beats gently moving when looking back.

“'ADELINE' was written during a trip to Melbourne earlier this year,” the Australian artist says of the track. “I felt really nostalgic being back in my hometown and I wrote 'ADELINE' as a sort of letter to my teenage self and the advice I would give her now. It's about finding that spark and better able to cut out all the noise your brain makes.”

Over fuzzy guitars and a driving drum line, the shoegaze sound that Total Tommy has created is delicately intertwined with its buoyant lyricism. “She ain't like you / she don't feel so insecure / never knew how / to get up off the bathroom floor,” she repeats throughout the track, a probing stream of consciousness the tumult of his adolescence.

The sound palette and the frankness of the piece, however, illustrate an artist fully chrysalized in her maturity. Furthermore, in writing this song with his wife, the very fibers of the piece are imbued with a whole new layer of meaning; sits somewhere between a reflection on the past and a look at how far we have come in the present. Stripping back new layers on each of his three singles thus far, Total Tommy is an artist to highlight from the start.