Ears Wide Open: TOMI

Kevin Bronson on June 1st, 2023

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TOMI is the no de tune of Connecticut native Pam Autuori, a singer-songwriter and producer who got her start as part of the duo XNY in New York, had a whirl on RCA Records for her EPs in 2017 and ’18 and went independent in 2020.

Through that evolution, her songs remain the honest and empowering work of a resolute confessionalist. TOMI’s new single “If You Tried,” littered with emotional detritus of a long breakup, sounds like ’90s radio gold.

The song will appear on TOMI’S debut album, “Late Bloomer,” arriving in August as the follow-up to the 2021 EP, “Sweet, Sweet Honey.”

“‘Late Bloomer’ is about the internal chaos of my twenties,” TOMI says. “The push and pull, the mistakes, the impulses, the vices and the sweet relief of finally loving yourself at the end of it all. These are the days I want to remember forever and also the days I wish I could indefinitely forget. A decade of contradiction, of fast decisions and feeling invincible.

“I wrote endlessly during this time, like I was trying to let out a monster or just trying to see myself clearly, anything to understand that my feet were still on the ground. ‘Late Bloomer’ marks the beginning of adulthood and the end of adolescence. It’s the first chapter of my story. The highs and the lows, the love and the loss and the completely insane realization that if I could I would do it all over again.”

The video for “If You Tried,” directed by Haile Lidow, finds TOMI in a one-sided relationship with Lesbian Barbie. There’s a twist.

||| Stream: “If You Tried”