TAMIW was formed by vocalist, violinist, producer, and physics PhD, TamiKeem who initially performed alone with loop machines, layered vocals, and live violin. She handpicked friends whose musical instincts aligned with her own, and together they formed TAMIW. Their latest album, `Farewell Party` released this monthcame from personal upheaval and artistic rebirth. The band experienced a wave of losses: a founding member left, their manager disappeared without warning, and for the first time in her life, Tami found herself unable to create.
We are introduced to the album via `A Silent Letter` a gentle ethereal, ambient, almost cinematic composition which opens with quietly shared lyrics and hushed tones as the title would suggest. A kind of awakening of sorts. A hypnotic rolling electronic beat with vocals that are gently shared and appear to be almost hinting at rebirth, return or revival guides us into and through `Anthem Of Sutra` which may refer to a Buddhist or Jainist scripture. It becomes almost gospel like towards the end. Charmingly odd.
`Deep `n` Shallow` sounds like a contradiction of sorts. It has a pulsing hip hop vocalised beat with rapped vocals, a song of resilience despite the haters expressing the despair and a song whose eventual healing brought TAMIW back to creating music. The title `Interlude 01` really sums up what this is. A break, pause or interval with percussive bamboo poles or tubes, handclaps, and whistling.
`We are Not Friends` features SOMAOTA the MC of the HipHop collective Black petrol and relates to an unhealthy alliance and moving on from it. A gentle rhythmic beat channels us along `Pay Mr Back!!` which has occasional funky brass tones. It hints at depression and despair with life in general.
`Sudan` seems to be a thinly veiled viewpoint on the region South of The Sahara where there`s a severe humanitarian crisis due to a civil war, a reflection on war with a slight middle Eastern flavour with what sounds like a gunshot at the death. SHIMMY features on `Run the World` which has a Prince (The Artist Formerly Known as) like vibe and espouses via rap to “make love not war” or ” party not war.”
‘A.H.O.’ is an anthem for emotional boundaries and self-acceptance. The title is Osaka slang for “idiot,” with layered meanings ranging from affection to disgust and expresses frustration with toxic relationships and societal expectations. It`s bizarre, dreamy, trippy, a synth-electronic offering with cat meows spliced throughout. We enjoy a further brief intermission with `Interlude 02` which is piano driven this time.
`Overcome` I read expresses the despair and eventual healing that brought TAMIW back to life, a balladlike soulful and delicate personalised offering from the heart. Quite trip-hop. The final cut comes with the rhythmic `3 Stupid thieves` part sung in Japanese with “Namaste” or ” I bow to you” interweaved at times. TAMIW`s sound fuses electronic textures with hip-hop grooves, ambient tones, and R&B melodies and TamiKeem has shared that “Music lets me say things I can’t express in words,.” The quartet of TamiKeem, Sho Kawabe, BON-SAN and Taichi Yoshimura each take something from their individual backgrounds and have created a really interesting quirky but nevertheless absorbing and compelling auditory offering.
Rating 8.5/10
