T.O.L.D.

The Purchase of Existence & Loss of life, or T.O.L.D., may be the atmospheric dark pop task of Birmingham, England’s Daniel Wayne Smith. The name was influenced by Gustav Klimt’s painting “Loss of life and Existence,” that your British producer 1st saw as an adolescent. Smith got his begin in the London underground — where he attempted different elements of pop music and self-released his personal materials — and shifted to LA in 2014, where he started focus on T.O.L.D. His 1st launch, the Heaven EP, was made by Birgir Þórarinsson (GusGus) and included the tropical-tinged “Lucifer’s Eye,” which merged Bastille’s breathless indie rock and roll with Kygo’s metal drums. That music seems on Smith’s meditative debut LP, IT ISN’T About the Witches (IAMSOUND), that was made by Tom Biller (Kanye Western, Eels, Karen O) and combined by Peter Katis (Interpol, Kurt Vile). Jas Shaw from Simian Portable Disco was also enlisted on “Come back Forever.” Released in June 2016, Witches integrated Depeche Mode-styled fresh influx/goth synths, and gospel-backed ’90s home just like Moby’s Play with a defeating hip-hop heart.