Tom VR will release a new album on Seb Wildblood’s All My Thoughts label.

Please Keep Shimmering is the British artist’s fourth release on All My Thoughts, and it’s the end result of a long, turbulent creative process. It’s really about perseverance and finding inspiration in the face of self-doubt.

First emerging in Leeds, northern England, Tom VR, real name Thomas Nicol, gained traction through a rapid series of releases on AMT and his own label, Valby Rotary. His debut album, Films, is a rich and eclectic collage of house, electronica, and field recordings; since then, he has refined a style of his own, which is detailed and intricate but grounded by a feeling of warmth. Earlier this year, he released Fast Track To Bliss on Midland’s INTERGRADED.

Work started on Please Keep Shimmering in the aftermath of Films in 2019. Relocating to London through Manchester, Tom VR juggled his music with a role in customer service. During 2020, over the course of months in isolated lockdown, anonymous abuse from customers skewed his perception of the outside world.

“It permeates through the screen of your computer and into your life,” he explains. “As you much as you try to disconnect afterwards, doing this every day while isolated in your home can get strange. I started to lose confidence in what I was doing creatively and why I was doing it.”

Please Keep Shimmering soundtracks this moment of “internal fracture,” but also the experience of reassembling the pieces. The album moves from pulsing ambient to brooding downtempo. And hidden between these moments of introspection are flashbacks to the dancefloor, we’re told.

“I sometimes envision my creativity like a flame shimmering. I was constantly worried about it fading out,” Tom VR says. “This album is a sonic reminder to anyone that when you feel burned out and exhausted, searching for the spark deep in your chest can feel impossible, but you have to believe it still exists.”

For more information on Seb Wildblood, check out his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Soared Straight Through Me
02. Petrichor
03. Colour Dance Behind The Eyelids
04. Partner
05. Keep Shimmering
06. Now The Branch Is Creaking
07. Achemore
08. October
09. Blue Sky Unravel
10. Well Are You Hope?
11. Partner (edit)
12. Soared Straight Through Me (edit)

Please Keep Shimmering LP is scheduled for September 15 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Partner” below. We’ll add pre-order links as they become available.