LISTEN: Thierry Tomas Oozes Style with New EP
Thierry Tomas’ latest soothes the soul in more ways than one…
Imagine, if you will, you’re sitting in a dimly lit jazz bar, smoking a cigar and sipping a whisky neat, eyeing off an attractive stranger on the other side of the room, and exuding an unending amount of cool. Delicious right? Now merge this delightful vision, with that of a gritty Parisian nightclub, flooded with strobes and overflowing with sweaty bodies, everyone keeping to themselves as they congregate underground into a nocturnal gyrating heap. Where these two opposing realities merge, you’ll find Thierry Tomas.
Although the producer and DJ hail from Russia, his work sounds as if it’s been plucked straight from Chicago’s golden house era, or the French house movement. Encompassing rich samples of jazz piano and saxophone, clean and guttural kick drums, and warmly tuned organic drum samples, the work of Thierry Tomas is nothing short of smooth, elegant, and beautifully arranged.
Past works featuring on labels Love Hertz, and Deep Digital Recordings don't sound too dissimilar for his latest 'Rhythms EP' released on Robsoul Recordings. The brand new 6 track project, swimming with vintage vocals cuts, bottom-heavy percussive breaks, and an effective simplicity, is reminiscent of Motor City Drum Ensemble's Raw Cuts Series. Of course, à la MCDE, the EP's minimalistic track titles do little to deter from the individuality of each piece, and even though every track sounds like the not-too-distant relative of the one before, they are all uniquely brilliant in their execution.
My personal favourite? ‘Rhythm #6’. There’s something about a repetitive jazz piano loop, topped with a generous amount of open hi-hat, and a rolling groove that gets me going. The project as a whole delves into deep house, nu-soul, jazz, lo-fi, and electronic simultaneously, in a way that very few creatives can do elegantly.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Have a blissful stroll through the 38-minute project here, and grab yourself a smooth homemade cocktail to make this period of self-isolation a truly luxurious and transformative affair.