Being artistic is clearly Tones and I’s full-time job. The Australian star loves doing something new, but still understands the business of capitalizing on success.
Replicating Success
While Tones and I is an indie pop artist at heart, her dabbling with electronica has been wildly successful. Her international breakout hit, “Dance Monkey,” topped charts in well over 30 countries. The song was, and is, a memorable moment production-wise, too.
Everything Tones and I had been known for in the indie pop circuit was seemingly brushed aside for this track. Genre-wise, it is wholeheartedly electropop. Truly though, it’s a dance hit. The lyrics aren’t necessarily clear and the beat is the driving force behind the song.
If “Dance Monkey” can do anything, it’s get people off their feet and moving around. That’s what a night club banger does. Therefore, with newfound success in the electropop meets dance music world, Tones and I ran with it. She’s still a pop artist, but has a stronger foundation in the EDM realm than previously.
This new single, “Won’t Sleep,” follows up “Dance Monkey” and does resemble it when it comes to it’s musicality.
“Won’t Sleep” is another production-based song for Tones and I. It might even be catchier than the bouncy, poppy “Dance Monkey.” There was clearly time spent on crafting the unforgettable hook in the chorus. As well, we have a feeling that the sweet bass timing and computer beeps and bops were purposeful. You also get the feeling that Tones and I can do no wrong when building a song from the beat up (rather than beginning with the lyrics).
The Spook-tacular Tones and I
However, we can’t move past this song without talking about the clever, witty lyrics that do actually make up this track.. “We like to party, sleep around with secrets, grab somebody – but don’t go tell your mama because she won’t sleep,” kickstarts this single. At the end of the day, this song is just as much of a partying, good times anthem as anything else. It also comes just in time for summer and just in time for an inkling of normallacy.
Although, we must say that the music video is anything but normal. It is haunting, disturbing, nerve-racking, and anxiety-ridden. The star crafts a nightmare narrative that is a bit unexplainable. Without watching, the best it can be explained as Alice in Wonderland meets Coraline. Prosthetics, costumes, backdrops, and more are all elaborate and shaking.
Having a party is nice, but having a party with people you can’t look in the eye because they’re terrifying? Maybe that’s not so nice, but definitely a new kind of entertaining in a new kind of world.
On the topic of the petrifying, overly creative music video, Tones and I reflected on it’s production in a press release. “When coming up with the creative for this film clip, I thought to myself, ‘Picture the most crazy thing ever’… and that’s what I wanted it to be. As with most of my videos, there are lots of prosthetics and different characters, and I had so much fun shooting it!”
Sure, this song resembles “Dance Monkey” in a production sense. Yes, it does follow up her last single, “Fly Away,” which was her most poetic to date. Vulnerability and passion come together on this new song, though. “Won’t Sleep” is memorable, laughable, and terrifying visually, but still ready for you to dance to all summer long.
