slowthai – TYRON
The two sides to slowthai are explored on TYRON, allowing him time for some much-needed self-reflection after a turbulent year
slowthai’s career so far has been shrouded in controversy, but at last year’s NME Awards ceremony things turned sour when a joke between himself and Katherine Ryan spiralled out of control. In a matter of hours he went from being the people’s hero to the posterboy for misogyny in the music industry.
Following ‘the incident’, slowthai – real name Tyron Frampton – returned to his hometown of Northampton, gave up drinking, and made his second album, TYRON, from the basement of his mum’s house. TYRON is an expectedly more introspective body of work than his critically-acclaimed debut, Nothing Great About Britain.
The album is split into two halves, representing the two sides to slowthai. On the album’s first half the track titles are stylised in all caps, while in the second half they’re all lower case, and there’s a distinct shift between the two sides. The symbolism is glaringly obvious, but it emphasises the extremes of slowthai’s personality.
TYRON’s second half is undoubtedly more interesting, demonstrating a maturity to his lyrical ability. While it does feel like a forced attempt to put things right, on TYRON slowthai is allowed the time for self-reflection that cancel culture often denies.
Listen to: focus, push