Teasing listeners with a drip-feed of singles over the past year, Thomston has made a bold return with dreamy indie-pop songs that embody a whole lot of emotion and raw vulnerability. 

With some of his songwriting taking place between Los Angeles and London over the past couple of years, these two geographical locations have also became the sonical aesthetic palettes for his creations. Realising that the sounds and feels of these new tracks were quite distinctive, he decided to create a double sided EP that explored these two worlds he’s created, and ‘En Route: Los Angeles/London’ is the shiny final form it takes. 

Opening the ‘Los Angeles’ side of the EP with the vibey title-track, he gets really reflective and smitten on this euphoric song about falling in love and the head over heels feeling we experience. “I almost said I love you. I almost think I meant it. Oh baby when it feels like the world has it out for me, you’re my little piece of Los Angeles” he sings during the light chorus. When you are listening to the track is does aesthetically feel like a song you would listen to while driving down Santa Monica or Hollywood Boulevard in the summer time and that’s a really cool thing. 

With the pulsating beats of ‘Causal’, the crooning nature of ‘Deal’, the anthemic touch of ‘The Heights’ and the gospel tinged ‘Acid Rain’ adding a contrasting mix of emotions and depth to this side of the EP, these previously released singles are all standouts in their own right. And the previously unreleased ‘Godsend’ is a beat heavy pop song that reflects on the beginning on a new relationship and the intense feels that come along with it.

In contrast, the ‘London’ side of the EP is darker, moodier and more emotional. Title track ‘London’ oozes with dark synths as he begs his love interest to come to London and be with him as he misses them and their touch. “I know from the first sight because it felt like a air strike. You could make my whole life a highlight”. From there he falls head over heels on ‘Lightweight’ to the point where it becomes dangerous. The production of these two tracks in particular still have a smooth pop sensibility about them which stands out. But when he transitions into ‘Middle Name’, ‘Vice’ and ‘Guts’ the songs get super dark and experimental and lose the polish and emotional hold he previously successfully attained. 

Out of the two sides, ‘Los Angeles’ is definitely the stronger collection of tracks, and the fact that the majority of the singles have come from that side proves that point. 

The New Zealand singer-songwriter recently opened up about his sexuality and came out, and noted that some of these songs were about girls that he’s dated and some are about guys. And to be honest, it doesn’t matter what gender they are about, because at the end of the day these songs are all very honest and vulnerable in their own way and will have you absolutely captivated. 

Must Listens: ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘Godsend’