‘Bridey Murphy’ is the latest EP by Jay Tonne – formerly the singer and songwriter of Black Forest Fire, from Austin – who writes, records, and performs as Tonne. Set for release March 13, the album is filled to the brim with Tom Petty like vocals and guitar – upbeat and heavy, yet at the same time melodic and pulling inspiration from the likes of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, and early REM. Lead single, ‘Catalina’, calls up long hot summer days, sprawled on the beach – well it does that for me anyway.
Jangly guitar and vacillating vocals draw in the listener and won’t let go without a fight – you’re not really inclined to struggle anyway – the snarly and slightly shrill quality of Tonne’s vocals, in conjunction with the ceaseless guitar playing make ‘Catalina’ almost the perfect pop song. In fact, the long drawn out instrumental at the end, is perfection itself, and will have you pressing replay before you even realise you’ve done it.
‘Catalina’ is just one of four tracks on the EP, with each highlighting Tonne’s talent for crafting contradictory – yet complementary – vocal tone and lyrics. He touches on love and relationships, and juxtaposes them against songs with social and political commentary, while at the same time supporting them instrumentally with slightly fuzzy guitars, and ever present bass and drums.
After finishing up with Black Forest Fire, Tonne moved back to his home state of Colorado to study for his master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Policy. In spite of his heavy workload with his studies, he nonetheless kept up his music, and although he didn’t have a band to work with, he started recording the sounds that formed the framework of what would become ‘Bridey Murphy’. The EP was completed at The Blasting Room, in Fort Collins, where he worked with producer Jason Livermore.
‘Bridey Murphy’ is set for release on March 13.
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