Tom Prior has already proved himself a firm one to watch for 2016; having appeared in the Radio One Live Lounge last month alongside Naughty Boy and Little Simz, Prior has spent the summer working with the likes of Andy Nicholson and Dre Island, and upcoming EP ‘Paint The Ceiling Blue’ is a collection of assured, polished material set to bolster this claim.
‘Take It All”, the lead cut from the upcoming EP, is a masterclass in that perfect soaring chorus that bubbles up just about every emotion under the sun. Prior’s raspy vocal sounds at once desperate and soothing, and combined with a powerful kick snare drum beat and some elevating, nostalgic synths it rounds off one of 2015’s best tracks to close the year.
We have a chat with Prior about the track and his plans for the upcoming year below, but before that check out the exclusive video premiere of “Take It All”, which sees the song’s title turned into a literal sense while Tom performs in a run down working men’s club.
Tell us a bit about “Take It All”. What’s it about and was there a particular circumstance that inspired it?
I got the first lines of the song while I was driving my car back in May. I’d gone to see some friends in Leeds. When I came back home I knew i wanted to finish it straight away. It wasn’t until I finished both verses I knew what it was about. It ended up being about moving on from somebody properly for the final time. It was also about the process of watching that person become somebody I didn’t really like help me get through it. Some people come into your life for a short time and for a particular reason but it’s still never easy letting go for good, it felt like something very worthy of a song.
It’s taken from your upcoming EP ‘Paint The Ceiling Blue’ – what was your favourite thing about working on it?
The whole thing took about two days, apart from the short lines in the chorus it was all quite a natural process. I’ve been sitting in the studio most of this year so whenever an idea came along I was so hungry to jump on it immediately. It was one of the first songs I brought my drummer Mo in to play on. Songwriting is what I love to do but spending the day working on a record with a friend I have travelled the country with was a nice moment for me and one I hope will become more common.
What’s 2016 currently holding for you?
I’m still working out what I want to do with it to be honest. I want people to live with this new music for a minute. Hopefully go and play the songs to some new and some familiar faces. I am sitting on so much more music so need to work out what I am going to do with that also. Just want to do whatever I can to spread the sounds about and of course continuing to try new things with my music. I am really just scratching the surface on what I want to be creating and hopefully next year I’ll be able to dig a bit deeper.
Words: Milly Stockton