We’ve covered a couple of singles from Tōth‘s new full-length And The Voice Said in recent months, first with ‘Spiraling‘ back in October. “Grounded by the signature trumpet and guitar, the song appears relatively spare on the surface,” we wrote of the song, “but as [Alex] Toth details an experience of precarious love it blossoms into something altogether richer and more immersive, the sound rising to meet the interior weather of its singer. The result manages to evoke the duality of human being, where benign surfaces mask roiling energy beneath the surface, always threatening to spill into the world.”
This sense of duality was no less of a feature on subsequent single, ‘Not Broken‘. “A track,” as we put it, “which confronts a default setting of negativity with its polar opposite, looking to puncture pessimism by sheer force of will.” With the release of the record fast approaching via EggHunt Records and Northern Spy Records, Tōth has unveiled a brand new single ‘Thoughts Are Like Clouds’, and again the song embraces apparent contradiction in order to explore its themes more fully.
Described as an ode to meditation, ‘Thoughts Are Like Clouds’ pairs a ruminative sound with immediate, stream-of-conscious-style delivery, allowing Tōth to convey how an ostensibly disciplined, rigouress practice can in reality lead to states of curiosity and freedom. A sense of rhythm runs through the track too, as though to reinforce the fact meditation is not some static experience but one of genuinely fluidity, though as the song develops a certain sense of chaos and desperation seep into its sound. A reminder that for all of the knowledge and self-acceptance which can stem from such reflection, there’s no bulletproof method to insulate yourself from the pressures of living.
“I’m pretty sure I was in a recovery meeting and a friend of mine shared with the group in a thick New York accent ‘thoughts are like clouds in the sky of your brain or whatever’ and it tickled me deeply,” Tōth explains. “Also that description came up in one of my daily meditation readings. You need only to witness and let the clouds pass (…or whatever). The thing about spiritual practice and spirituality for me is: It’s deadly serious but it only works if I don’t take it or myself too seriously. I love how disciplined practices like meditation and staying sober help me be the most free and child-like.”
Watch the video directed by Michael Leviton and Tōth below:
And The Voice Said will be released on the 23rd February via Egghunt Records and Northern Spy and you can pre-order it from the Tōth Bandcamp page.
Photos by Michael Leviton, album layout/design/artwork by Bucky Boudreau