Sultry and smoldering, Toto Peña’s “Now” is an achingly intimate intoxication dropped at life by way of a soulful, dreamy haze.

Stream: “Now” – Toto Peña

We might write that Toto Peña’s new single captures the warmth of the summer season,

and we’d be proper, to a level – however this track is a lot greater than a seasonal seduction: It’s the warmth of the second.

And it’s telling us what our coronary heart(s) meant.

Sultry and smoldering, Toto Peña’s “Now” is an achingly intimate intoxication dropped at life by way of a soulful, dreamy haze. It’s a uncooked and visceral fever dream: Peña channels his personal charged feelings right into a fascinating vocal efficiency that, coupled with a smoky mixture of saxophone, guitars, keys, and drums, proves completely enchanting and all-consuming.

I assumed I knew what love is
Oh I used to be improper
It’s one thing greater than what you’re feeling
It’s one thing you do proper

Please take me again as who I do know I will likely be
Please see me now for who I’m
Deep inside
Inside you will see
Inside my thoughts I see

You, now, you, now
You, oh you now
You, now
‘Trigger one thing ain’t proper

Atwood Journal is proud to be premiering “Now,” the primary single of the 12 months from Salt Lake Metropolis-based singer/songwriter and producer, Toto Peña. Previously frontman for the Baltimore-based “samba shoegaze” band June Pastel, Peña has by no means a lot been one for conventional musical constructions; his artwork has at all times existed in fringes and blends – the areas in-between the clear-cut “strains” we are likely to lend to types like people, indie rock, psychedelia, soul, and so forth.

Candidly, we desire artwork like this, too. A part of the rationale Peña’s music is so inspiring is due to that freedom from construction; he’s not certain to any strain to evolve, nor expectation to ship in any single sound or fashion. His solo materials dates again to 2019, and wherever you press play on his discography, you’re certain to be met with a heat voice and a bleeding soul; aside from that, the sky’s the restrict.

“Now” arrives over a 12 months after Peña’s 2022 singles “2SOON2LATE” and “MARIAN ZAZEELA,” and is, actually, one among his most layered, nuanced, and fully-produced tracks thus far – seemingly as a result of it’s the lead single off his upcoming album (launch date TBA).

However don’t let its excessive manufacturing worth idiot you: “Now” is an extremely unadulterated and unfiltered track filled with character, feeling, and pure ardour.

“‘Now’ is the primary monitor I really feel that I used to be capable of absolutely see a track by way of manufacturing clever,” Peña tells Atwood Journal. “I began my solo venture proper earlier than the pandemic and I by no means actually had the time or alternative to work on a recording for greater than per week or two. ‘Now’ looks like I used to be capable of actually let the idea of the track blossom and was capable of see by way of every step of my manufacturing course of. ‘Now’ looks like an arrival. Now.”

“Conceptually, I consider the track holds just a few themes; Heartbreak, Recollections, Emotional processing, and Perspective. Particularly, across the thought of the actions and choices that we make in life and the way its context adjustments over time. The sensation then of our selections, I believe, additionally adjustments with time – a lot as how I see a Spiral. Visually, the track embraces the picture of the Spiral Jetty, a public artwork sculpture made on the north finish of the Nice Salt Lake through the Seventies. Visually, the Spiral is critical to me because it represents the emotional Spiral we undergo at varied occasions of our lives.”

How am I residing with out you?
I’m dying, I’m spiraling
Can’t sleep by way of the evening alone
I grew up however at your expense

“Now” aches from the within out as Toto Peña dwells in an area of reflection, reckoning, and sobering acceptance, languishing within the gap left behind in a liked one’s absence.

Whereas this track is much from celebratory, we do really feel a way of launch because the artist involves phrases with loss; his feelings rework into a shocking rush of wealthy, stunning sound that washes over the ears, flooding the airwaves with an intensely intimate and cathartic weight.

Oh I used to consider
That you must simply depart me
It’s not my alternative
It’s not my alternative, no not now
Nevertheless it was at the beginning
And I selected so improper

I selected improper
I selected improper, but now
Is that this proper? Is that this proper?

It truly is the warmth of the second for Toto Peña; whereas he can’t change the previous, he can and does resolve to maneuver ahead, albeit with a heavy coronary heart. Get locked within the “Now” and stream Peña’s smoldering new single, solely on Atwood Journal!

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