Altai is the up-and-coming musical outlet of Australian multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tessa Collins, relocated to the Northern Rivers of NSW, who has developed a genre-blurring sound that weaves together Dream Pop, Jangle Pop, Shoegaze, and Alternative Folk.
In the songwriter’s latest single, “On Your Own”, featuring William J Evans on bass, backing vocals, guitar and Nicholas Warren Evans on guitar, beautifully visualized by Filipino artist Rommel Joy Valencia, everything is balanced to the nth degree, from the heart-warming bittersweet melodies, to the wistful, crisp echoing jangles, gentle yet vibrant strums and whispered lulling vocalizations, and the beauty is that everything mixes and suits together perfectly, as infectiously fresh, as it is pensively nostalgic, in an electrifying whole.
Through a lens of grief, loss, stillness, and present moment awareness, lyrics comfort a person who lost their heart, then fell apart, and is now struggling to let go.
“On Your Own” arranges layers of sparkling multi-textural guitars to swirl, flourish, and weave vital energy through an undertow of driving mid-tempo drum beats and meandering bass throbs while weary, sincere vocals lean into the gentle caresses of immersive, swaying catharsis.
The Official Video by Rommel Joy Valencia crafts a colorful moving collage full of thought-provoking symbolism to sync with the healing introspection of the soundtrack. The vision travels back from a shaky foundation and slowly elevates perception through a series of vibrant nature-inspired portals where, with a helping hand from above, a freshly mended heart grows to new heights. It is a whimsical dreamland, with beautiful flowers blooming atop a snowy mountain summit to open locked doorways with understanding and insight.
ALTAI‘s third single, “On Your Own”, is out now on Broken Palace Records.
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