Track Of The Day 27/10 – tendai

There’s something about tendai that seems to exist in slipstreams between the past and the present.

An artist whose work – and remember, his debut single ‘Not Alone’ was released mere months ago – stands apart from his peers, he seems able to re-contextualise classic elements within a dazzlingly modern framework.

Take new single ‘Infinite Straight’. The rolling guitar riff seems to nod to the blues, that vast repository for the Black experience; yet the taut electronics are reminiscent of trip hop, recalling Tricky at his paranoid best.

Still only 21 years old, ‘Infinite Straight’ carries itself with an emphatic sense of purpose, with tendai using the lyrics as a space for a reflection on his own mortality.

“It’s about life and death in the sense that one might feel that you’re on this infinite road, but it can feel as if you’re being chased. Deaths going on all around you…”

“When’s there’s so much happening in the world centering around death, be it George I Floyd, the pandemic, or even celebrities, it’s hard to ignore…”

The stark visuals were shot by Ethan & Tom, and the wilderness setting seems to expertly frame tendai’s candid meditations.

Tune in now.

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