Toby Tune has countless albums with a myriad of themes. Every niche, abstract or concrete idea he can think of, music comes from it. In 2021 alone, he has released 3 full length albums. Overlapping styles, layers and sounds-this navigator wants to explore each square inch of music as a learning experience. This is his latest album, Layers of Light. 

You can hear his singular sound from the get-go. Layered and complex, the opening Abstractions itself is an analogue synth sound symposium. The metallic percussion adds to make the composition something worth digressing into. What many musicians would leave as a loop for laziness, Toby Tune makes the music revolve around. The same thing can be said for Ponderance, where sounds from pop, rock and even synthwave meld together. 

This amalgam is where Toby’s genius lies. His years of experience is translated without one word, yet it is expressive and stylishly him. With Desert Heat, a slow, melting sound comes to the fore. Though appropriate for the scenery created, that’s not all. It organically builds to the crux, where crashing, cascading sounds create the theme with accuracy. Aka runs with a quicker, warmer tempo. It is like a dance track, constructed so, but diversifies into other sound territories. 

Drifting through sounds

The Disturbance part of the song titled so comes not from the acoustic, but the percussion. The tension is created with the note, the percussion creates the drama. This is where Toby Tune knows how to harness emotions, a massive bank of flowing, active parts of music might be living in him. Like the active neutron star that a Pulsar is, Toby continues to make a digital masterpiece. It beats, like a living organism, with all that raw, unmeasured energy. Daylight is an instant contrast to the darker vibe that Pulsar carried.

Compositional skills make this album another brilliant piece of art. From contrasts to just ideas piled to create a superb, moving track-Toby Tune manifests the best of his songwriting abilities. 

With Rushing, there is a constant state of flow reimagined. The percussions and instrumentals clash, often but not by habit. This creates a cinematic, rousing feeling along with some wonderful mental imagery. Inspirational and resonant, it is as climactic as can be. Patriots harnesses the pride of place and time, pride reimagined through instrumentals alone. It opts for other instruments, ditching the popularly used bagpipes and guitar to create something equally inspiring. Sphero harnesses a sound that is a cross-section of different regions of world music. It vibrates with a newfound energy, instruments that aren’t popularly used or heard.

 Titillating emotions

Daily Toil is what comes in sequentially as we near the end of this fantastic expedition. With violins, it is like hearing a fable of pain, labour and loss. Something that is constantly felt, but ignored. Expressed with diligence and honesty, the melancholy can really take you aback. 

Strut is a groovy number, something that is nice to hear as a break of feel and form. Constantly experimenting with sound, it is like rifling through a library of extensively detailed books. 

Approaching Enlightenment, you realize you might have heard a cinema score worth of music. That is how many doors of sound he has imploded to create a unified, cross-cultural experience. Explore his Spotify library, it might take you months to get through. Each era is a different Toby to concur with. Enjoy a cinematic, holistic experience overall.