Making a splash onto the scene in 2019 with her breakout hit ‘Dance Monkey’, Australian artist Toni Watson, or better known by her stage name, ‘Tones And I’, radicalised the nature of not just Australian pop but the very landscape of what was being consumed worldwide. A polarising song and figure, to say the least, Toni has manufactured a song that despite constant debate had managed to infect the airwaves and brains of listeners worldwide. From an individual standpoint, the song’s success came as a shock, though unique and outlandish, the now synonymous vocals of Tones And I never failed to leave a sour taste, and it’s primary function always came across as one of intended irritation. A year one from the phenomenon, Tones continues to release music to expand her brand and prove to the world that she’s more than the forever labelled ‘Dance Monkey’ girl. With her brand new double single release compiling of tracks ‘Bad Child’ and ‘Can’t Be Happy All The Time’ Tones thrusts herself into new adventures whilst confining to familiar sounds.
The first track on the double release is ‘Bad Child’ in which Tones discusses the haunting memories of her troubled childhood sticking with her and shaping the person she has become. Utilising her signature vocals, the sound, rather than being an intimate retelling of this narrative sounds more like a corporate manufactured product. The overly synthetic and electronically modified vocals, beyond being an irritating presence remove any sense of personal affiliation or connection to the lyrics. Structurally, the song grows and intensifies when necessary yet the dynamic shift vocally serves as a downfall of the song rather than a selling point. Tones, with the voice she has, getting louder creates a further inorganic and disingenuous sound as she attempts to conform to common tropes of pop music.
The production throughout the track certainly doesn’t pull its weight to mask the evident flaws with Tones as a vocalist. During the verses, a repetitive, isolated piano carries the downtime with what could be an interesting synth line left bubbling under the monotonous keys. During the chorus, the synth is unleashed and the tension is broken, yet it fails to capture or further develop the wealth of intensity Tones brings. Towards the backend of the track, during the bridge, the song develops a portion of character and charm through an altered piano melody that embodies a sinister-sounding, almost enchanting atmosphere, showcasing Tones’ talent for picking unique and unconventional sounds. This trance is immediately broken as the audience is reintroduced to the standard structure and sounds of the song, being reimmersed in Tones’ overbearing and unpalatable vocals.
The counter track, ‘Can’t Be Happy All The Time’ plays with the idea of genuine emotion far better, yet is held back by its minimalistic approach. Tones’ vocals on the track do manage to convey an air of sincerity and vulnerability, yet the dominant sound continues to bask in the overly manipulated, now synonymous Tones and I sound. With that being said, this track, more so than the other, being very grandiose and angelic nature feels as if it would have benefitted from the complete natural transparency of Tones’ voice. To the nature of the aforementioned issue of blank space that runs throughout the track, such is created in an attempt to make this track relish in a frame of mind resembling the larger than life mentality. By creating a song so structurally devoid and incoherent in order to capitalise on a sense of tension and growing intensity, the track leaves far too much room for listeners to fade in and out of focus. On top of this, the pacing of the track is so awfully slow that the breaks in between phrasing become tedious, again leaving too much to the role of the listener and in part showing the lack of material on offer.
The production on the track suffers from many of the same problems as both the previous track and the vocals on this specific track. Thin is the best way to describe the instrumental. Whilst on a surface level listen the sombre and soft piano that opens up the track adds a tinge of mystifying optimism, but beyond that, the production suffers from the general lack of itself on the song. The bassy synth lines that mesh and blend with Tones’ vocals do manage to add dark and heavy undertones, yet don’t stand out enough on their own to bring any real sense of a presence on the track. Beyond that, the production is equally as scarce throughout the run time of the song, leaving yet again far too much downtime and blank space for listeners’ minds to wonder. This feels like a classic example of an artist attempting to pull from the theoretical strengths of the minimalist approach in order to evoke a true sense of despair and emotive tendencies the lyrics describe, but in execution, leaves far too much out in the open. In fact, this track upon inspection feels as if it pulls tropes from Billie Eilish’s decrepit, sinister and minimalistic centric tracks, yet fails to have the creative edge necessary to truly sell it.
What the two-track release reveals is that Tones is clearly trying to forge a path that allows her to expand her musical identity. Although she is very much experimenting with similar ideas and sounds to that present on her previous work, this feels like more of an endeavour to open up to her fans and insert herself into her music. Whilst the attempt to shift to a far more mature and authentic style is appreciated, Tones doesn’t truly manage to grasp at, or truly form any links substantial enough to sell this new identity. To speak freely on my perceptions of Tones as an artist, I can’t say this venture into more serious sounding material truly works with the sound she chooses to operate with. As an almost counterclaim to the aforementioned, however, even when associated with the far more adventurous and blissfully youthful sounding ‘Dance Monkey’ Tones again fails to sit in a position in which her music can be considered endurable. Perhaps, Tones needs to continue down this path of shifting tones, more likely, however, is the realisation that for many, myself included, her unique and challenging sound will continue to stick out as one that will never truly find its place.
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