Tom Misch

Jason Landry, contributor
 

From the first lyric, “Took some time just to heal my mind”, you get a sense that Tom Misch had some soul searching to do within himself and he wasn’t afraid of letting everyone know. On his new album, Full Circle, Misch delivers a grouping of songs that bend toward personal introspection after dealing with some mental health issues over the last few years.

 

In both the first track “Flowers In Bloom” and the second track “Red Moon”, the word ‘change’ plays a prominent role, and when things seem not right, that’s all many of us tend to long for.

 

Tom’s vocals are soft and the lyrics are very personal and reminiscent to the songs that appeared on his first major release from 2018, Geography. It becomes clear on the track “Sisters With Me” where he wrote about his close ties with his family and those who he counted on most when he was struggling, and “Old Man”, a self-analysis of aging.

 

“Running Away” details his fears but willing to persevere, …”Even though my body aches I know I’ll do this every day.” And from my perspective, “this” refers to music, and as we have heard many times in the past, music heals.

 

This album moves Misch away from the funk, neo-soul infused guitar lines that were present in the 2020 album Some Kinda Music with Yussef Dayes, and lofi beats that existed early in his career and cements him more toward that of a true singer/songwriter. The styling of the album Full Circle reminds me of two John Mayer albums, Born and Raised and Paradise Valley. It comes through specifically in the Misch tracks “Goldie” and "Old Man".

 

“Fear can’t hurt any more than a dream.” Not only is this a title of one of the eleven tracks on Full Circle, but one of the best statements that sums up issues that some people have and must learn to accept in order to move on. Fear is a heavy thing to get past. I applaud Tom for writing all of these songs, helping him to heal his mind and place him on a forward trajectory. Having followed his career since the early beat tape days, and seen him perform twice, this album shows that he’s grown as an artist both personally and professionally and heading toward a path to a brighter day.