REVIEW & INTERVIEW: REBECCA TOMMASI 'ANOTHER DAWN'
Back in 2014, the singer-songwriter was introduced to jazz singing for the first time and was immediately hooked by the connections and inspirations in jazz. "I spent the next few years tracking down jazz jams in London and found a whole new world," the singer commented.
Tommasi has always been a person deep in thoughts and in search of truth. She carries around notebooks to record her ideas and write down poetry. The title track "Another Dawn" is originated from one of her past poems, although the song derived far from the original poem. The creation process of the EP was an explosion of ideas and a journey full of surprises. "I would record melodies walking home from work, late in the evening, whenever I had a flash of inspiration," said Tommasi.
As a big fan of Portishead's 'Dummy,' the revisit of the album in 2019 inspired the creation of 'Another Dawn." Rebecca Tommasi wanted to make an album like 'Dummy.' She then brought the idea to jazz guitarist and producer Francesco Lo Castro. From the initial idea to the final presentation, together, they created something special.
Each of every song on the EP is tectonic and flavorful. The Brazilian-inspired, groovy "Star" is a perfect opening to Tommasi's singing and musical style. Then, it goes into a sensual, melancholy "Stronger" and takes a term inward to a personal, cinematic "Another Dawn." "Petals and Chaos" brings out the cinematic effects more and introduces the metallic, dramatic sound and stirs your feeling. Finally, the EP concludes with a smooth, heart-melting "Wallpapers." In this journey of musical influences and free-flowing imageries, the sound and the soul in her voice is a touch of magic that glues the drifting music ideas together.
After falling in love with her voice, I then fell for her way of words. Below are the inspirations and stories behind each song in Rebecca Tommasi's own terms with minor editing:
Star:
I was on the train traveling home on a cold December evening from my producer's studio. I was watching the sunset from the window. Traveling from place to place is often where I find I can switch off and daydream a bit. On this particular journey, I was struck by how the sun never fails to rise. It made me think of people overcoming struggles. Through recording the track much later during the lockdown, the idea developed even further. I thought about particular people I've met and how inspired I've been by people overcoming difficult situations. It's really about the fragility of being human.
Stronger
”Stronger” is not about one person or one relationship. It's about breaking toxic cycles that we sometimes keep revisiting in our lives. When you are in toxic patterns, it affects every aspect of your life: how you think, how you act, your relationship with everyone, but most importantly, the one with yourself. It's about breaking those cycles, and it takes a lot of reflection and strength. It's a lifelong journey, really."
Another Dawn
This track is very personal. It leads to stronger and repairing the relationship with yourself. When I was writing for the EP, there was a period where I wrote every day. Ideas kept coming to me. This song was originally a poem, and I developed it after a conversation with a very close friend. We talked about our struggles with depression and the things that come with that, self-sabotage, self-loathing, etc.
”Another Dawn” is about treading that fine line with what is real and what isn't. Depression can convince you of things that feel very real: you are not good enough, you are not productive enough, etc. Thoughts become so flimsy and unreliable, and you don't know what to believe anymore. This can be damaging to your close relationships because you want to connect and reach out, but sometimes it just feels impossible. There are quite a lot of parallels in this song. It's about being stuck, essentially.
Petals and Chaos
"Petals and Chaos" is about life. Life hands you some blows, namely grief—one of the hardest. The lyrics came from the idea of bunching flowers together, which is part of the ritual of grief and grieving.
I imagined the petals rebelling against this, pulling away from rituals, and being restored to their natural setting. Loss is essentially a part of life and nature—something we must accept.
I think Philip Larking commented on the ritual of giving someone flowers in a poem called "The building."
Wallpaper
”Wallpaper “was the first song I wrote. It's about my childhood home and being in that space again as an adult. It reflects the relationship I have with my childhood home and how at some point, it needed me to put it back together and make it stand tall again, simultaneously trying to put myself back together. It's a journey we went on together.
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