Former Wild Beasts songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Fleming will release his debut solo album under the guise One True Pairing on September 20th. He will be playing the Paradiso in Amsterdam on October 31th.
Having previously shared the title track, “One True Pairing”, and recent single “I’m Not Afraid”; today, Fleming unveils new single “Dawn At The Factory”. Over looming synths, Tom emphatically sings “Where the strip lights shine, I give you my life”.
Talking about the song, he says: “2019’s satanic mills - zero hours, suicide nets, universal credit, cheap labour. The blue-white glow of the factories out on the gyratory and the plastic clad office blocks of the town centre. I wanted to strip the romance back and look at what makes this country run, what makes it tick. The factories are hungry and it’s you they want. I wanted it to sound like the open road but there’s just too much barbed wire around it. The same every night. You do what you have to do. Knackered synths and a Floyd rose. Hope you enjoy it, OTP 2019 x”.
One True Pairing is “the angry northern Springsteen record that I'd always wanted to make” says Tom Fleming, “it's neo-heartland rock". These "heartlands” are the moors above Bradford or Cumbernauld, "places where people live their whole lives and do these things and succeed and fail.” Within this there’s a continuation of the exploration of masculinity that made his former band so unique. As well as being deeply personal, OTP has a wider political resonance, he believes that class is entirely discounted from the current conversation about inclusivity and privilege. In its 11 songs of discordant guitar and aggressive synth Fleming channels his discontent with Britain in 2019 and a “feeling of directionless rage and cheatedness which hasn't gone away."