{"id":377964,"date":"2026-04-02T08:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377964\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T08:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:22:18","slug":"ring-the-alarm-wake-up-be-human-aurora-and-tom-rowlands-on-their-new-dance-pop-duo-tomora-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377964\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ring the alarm! Wake up! Be human!\u2019: Aurora and Tom Rowlands on their new dance-pop duo Tomora | Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two members of\u00a0Tomora are contemplating their forthcoming debut live shows, a slate that includes an attention-grabbing slot at this month\u2019s Coachella festival. \u201cWe\u2019re still kind of working it out, and I\u2019m getting a bit, \u2018Oh my God, what\u2019s going on?\u2019\u201d worries Tom Rowlands, best known as one half of Grammy-winning banger merchants the Chemical Brothers<\/a>, and now one half of Tomora. Rowlands\u2019 mindset, however, contrasts heavily with that of Aurora, his new musical partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have any stress in my being,\u201d the Norwegian singer-songwriter and pop experimentalist says cheerily, sitting on the floor of the duo\u2019s north London label office with her shoes off. \u201cI\u2019m always like: it\u2019s fine,\u201d she shrugs. \u201cYes, the house is on\u00a0fire, but we\u2019ll work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tomora\u2019s debut album, Come Closer, these different approaches manifest themselves throughout its\u00a012\u00a0tracks; Rowlands\u2019 kinetic yet precisely structured dance framework fusing with Aurora\u2019s more chaotic pop nous to create a head-spinning mix of techno, trip-hop and, on the prowling title track, a skewed take on prog. In person, each fills the gaps left by the other; Rowlands, 55, isn\u2019t keen on interviews, having purposefully eschewed them in his day job, while the impish Aurora has the ability to deliver philosophical soundbites with genuine passion. A\u00a0question about Tomora\u2019s \u201corganic\u201d collaboration, for example, leads to the 29-year-old declaring: \u201cIt\u2019s like how every plant in the world just knows which direction to grow up from the earth. They know how to become what they\u2019re going to become without anyone telling them \u2013 it\u2019s predestined knowledge. That\u2019s how I feel with us in the studio. It just happens like it has already happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

That instinctive spirit is laser-guided through the album\u2019s elasticated lead single, Ring the Alarm, which feels like the aural equivalent of mainlining a gallon of caffeine. For Aurora, it also carries a deeper message thanks to the climate into which it\u2019s arriving. \u201cIt\u2019s a\u00a0good time to say: \u2018Ring the alarm! Be\u00a0aware! Look around! Wake up!\u2019\u201d she\u00a0says. \u201c\u2018Be awake, be human.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She also sees the Coachella slot, which was announced before the public even knew who or what Tomora was, causing a minor ripple on various music-focused Reddit threads, as bigger than just a rave in the California desert. \u201cThere is so much emotional distress on the land there just now, like a lot of places,\u201d Aurora says. \u201cSo it\u2019s going to be interesting to\u00a0have a little moment of escapism. I\u00a0think music really matters when the world is very chaotic. So I\u2019m more excited than I would normally be [to play Coachella] because it feels like it\u2019s going to be a beautiful moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aurora\u2019s ability to communicate music\u2019s healing powers is what caught the attention of Rowlands in the first place. Watching Glastonbury 2016 coverage on his sofa (\u201cIt was the one year I didn\u2019t go,\u201d he says), he was transfixed by Aurora\u2019s \u201ccombination of\u00a0strength and this fragility, plus her\u00a0incredible voice\u201d. Rowlands sent Aurora an email asking if she\u2019d be up\u00a0for appearing on the Chemical Brothers\u2019 then in-the-works No Geography album. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t hear back for weeks,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

Pride of place \u2026 Aurora performing in Mexico City in 2021. Photograph: Medios y Media\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Aurora, it turned out, was taking it\u00a0all in. \u201cI was very excited, and I\u00a0wanted to be very myself when I answered,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd sometimes when you\u2019re overpowered by dopamine or serotonin in the brain, you speak and act in a way\u00a0that isn\u2019t truly representative to who you are. It\u2019s a bit too dog-like. So\u00a0I\u00a0waited until the serotonin and dopamine was at a\u00a0normal level again.\u201d She\u2019d go on to appear on three of No Geography\u2019s tracks, with Rowlands later returning the favour, adding production to Aurora\u2019s 2024 UK Top 10 album What\u00a0Happened to the Heart?.<\/p>\n

double quotation markLike how every\u00a0plant knows which direction to grow up.\u00a0That\u2019s how I feel\u00a0with us in the studio<\/p>\n

Despite spending her childhood \u201csinging or talking\u201d as opposed to listening to the radio or exploring the ins and outs of the music canon \u2013 her phone only contains a handful of Enya songs, \u201cEthiopian music from the 70s\u201d plus Hate It Or Love It by the Game ft\u00a050 Cent \u2013 one of her favourite albums of all time happened to be the Chemical Brothers\u2019 soundtrack to the 2011 action thriller Hanna. \u201cI loved every single song and I listened to it so much,\u201d she says. \u201cIt became a really big part of my life as a person who doesn\u2019t really listen to music much.\u201d Rowlands recently played Aurora Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys for the first time during a car journey: \u201cI\u00a0was like: fuck me, I\u2019d like to hear Good Vibrations again for the first time\u00a0in my life,\u201d he smiles.<\/p>\n

Any trepidation about working with\u00a0one of her musical idols soon dissipated, and in fact Rowlands\u2019 email arrived at the exact right time. Having been an artist since she was 16, by 2016 Aurora was burnt out from \u201cover 300 shows in a year plus maybe 100 promo performances\u201d. She says she was contemplating ending \u201cthe artist thing because it [was] taking away the fun from the music\u201d. Their collaboration on No Geography was \u201csomething that felt very much like mine in a time where everything that\u00a0was mine belonged to the world\u201d,\u00a0she adds.<\/p>\n

Superstar DJS \u2026 Rowlands and Ed Simons as the Chemical Brothers. Photograph: Hamish Brown<\/p>\n

If the Chemical Brothers collaboration was a form of rescue remedy for Aurora a decade ago, then she has since been able to return the favour. Having made 10 albums alongside fellow Chemical Brother Ed Simons, all with tours in between, by 2024 Rowlands \u201cneeded to have some other thing to think about\u201d before embarking on another Chems album. Deciding he needed \u201ca shot of Aurora\u201d, the pair started recording at Rowlands\u2019 home studio, as well as at Aurora\u2019s family home in Norway. It was there that they road-tested some of the songs to an initially sceptical audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents\u2019 ears aren\u2019t used to\u00a0looking past the jarring noises of techno or rock or whatever genre it is,\u201d says Aurora. \u201cThey only hear that it\u2019s hard and messy. But with our music, it\u2019s a very good door for them into a\u00a0new world because I can tell that they feel it in here\u201d \u2013 she presses the centre of her rib cage \u2013 \u201cin a very fun way.\u201d Her parents were so enamoured of Rowlands that he left with a gift: a\u00a0Norwegian cheese slicer made from reindeer bone.<\/p>\n

Rowlands says he was astonished by Aurora\u2019s musicality, and her ability to finesse the jarring noises into something beautiful. \u201cA lot of the instruments I use don\u2019t have a concept of a note,\u201d he laughs. \u201cBut Aurora listens and then she\u2019ll play something and I\u2019ll go: \u2018Oh my God, that was inside the sound and I couldn\u2019t find it.\u2019\u201d One story helped bond them even more, Rowlands recognising in Aurora\u2019s distaste of a specific snare sound on her debut album a shared music-related geekery. \u201cIt ruined the whole album for me,\u201d Aurora says. \u201cWell, because it just didn\u2019t sound as you wanted it to sound,\u201d Rowlands replies.<\/p>\n

In the decade since that debut, Aurora has taken even more control in the studio, but is also aware that some people will simplify Tomora down to a\u00a0male producer creating songs for a\u00a0female singer; that her work in the studio may be sidelined. It\u2019s an assumption that\u00a0frustrated her at the start of her career: \u201cBecause then it was like: \u2018Oh,\u00a0this makes me feel small, this misinterpretation of my capabilities.\u2019 But as I grow older, I just don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

She acknowledges, however, that \u201cfor other women that also produce, it is a good thing to advocate for and talk about. Because it is really fun to produce, and it\u2019s important to be heard.\u201d Working with Rowlands, she says, helped because his openness made it \u201cso easy to feel respected immediately, which you don\u2019t always expect with a more established artist that is male, and a less established [one] that is female. I\u2019m used to demanding it, though, because I\u2019m\u00a0quite: \u2018Fuck you, I\u2019ll do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowlands is aware that the pair\u2019s mutual respect means there\u2019s little in the way of juicy confrontation. \u201cWait until we finish touring,\u201d Rowlands laughs. \u201cFucking hell!\u201d Aurora, ever the storyteller, lights up at the idea of this imagined bust-up. \u201cWe\u2019ll get separate cars. We won\u2019t look\u00a0each other in the eye,\u201d she says, practically levitating as the fantasy plays out in her mind. \u201cBut weirdly, we\u00a0will also be wearing one communal hat.\u201d Rowlands, aware of his role in Tomora, smiles and nods along.<\/p>\n

Come Closer is out on 17 April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two members of\u00a0Tomora are contemplating their forthcoming debut live shows, a slate that includes an attention-grabbing slot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-377964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}