Electronica, Jazz, Lo-Fi Funk Artist TOMÁ Releases "ATOM"

“ATOM” is the debut album of Austro-Bulgarian musician, Tomá Ivanov aka TOMÁ. With his avant-garde Lo-fi- Jazz-Psychedelic-Pop debut, the composer and guitarist asserts himself as a skillful and progressive state of the art producer. Influenced by the greats from the early Warp Records and Ninja Tune era (Squarepusher, Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin etc.) the Bulgarian-born artist began experimenting with electronic music production in his youth, only to then take a detour in form, as he followed an education in jazz music, which he completed in 2018. This characteristic musical diversity is present throughout his first album. He flawlessly blends the electronic spark of Stones Throw/Brainfeeder aesthetics with the distinguishing harmonic freedom of jazz and neo-soul improvisations, resulting in a trippy, sonic voyage. Elements of the classical LA-Beatschool are accompanied by lush strings, wind instrumentals, and wide-ranging vocal features.

The song “Catharsis” is a collaboration with the euphonious Austrian singer Lou Asril; a complex arrangement of strings, virtuosic vocals and a powerful beat, remind of a psychedelic James Bond soundtrack. The distinct counterpoint in the loaded harmonies, reveals Tomá’s versatile compositional abilities and evoke a baroque or classical atmosphere, which reappears in the somber tracks such as “Bad Dream”, “Wrong” and “Blind War”. In the latter track, experimental Chicago jazz-scene multi-instrumentalist, poet, composer and singer, Ben Lamar Gay, conveys a profound statement with his critical lyrics.

In contrast, the album’s opener “A Different You”, featuring New York rapper I am Tim, composed during the ghostly and yet freeing tranquility of the first lockdown, offers an aura of optimism. Even with the album’s vast stylistic range of electronic, jazz, hip-hop and psychedelic pop elements it preserves its coherence above all via its homogenous production and Lo-fi charm. The Californian vibe is further emphasized in the instrumental tracks “Green” (and its music video), “Brother” or “Water”. Despite the presence of a wide, international variety of classical and jazz artists, “ATOM” remains a personal album, a creative rebirth (an atomic rediscovery), and an intimate declaration on the universal language of music.