The world can be a scary place, but you wouldn’t know that from listening to Teddy Swims’ music, even though many of his songs are rooted in trauma and pain. Last year, interviewed as part of NME’s C24 mixtape of artists poised to take over the globe, the Georgia-raised singer revealed that the predecessor to ‘I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part Two)’ had been inspired by “a bad situation” in which he was “living harder” than he should have been.
For all its excoriating self-analysis, ‘Part One’ was ultimately a joyous reclamation, as Swims (real name Jaten Dimsdale) mixed vintage soul and Motown influences with titanium-gloss production. Its life-affirming nature was underlined when breakout smash ‘Lose Control’ bagged the top spot on Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2024 chart, leaving poor old Shaboozey to pour himself another drink.
The swiftly released follow-up staves off a bad case of sequelitis because it successfully deepens Swims’ story. He’s “coming from more of a healed spot” now, as he put it to NME backstage at Reading Festival last summer; opener ‘Not Your Man’, with its thunderous percussion and ominous, rolling bassline, certainly sounds like the work of a man emboldened by world domination.
Lead single ‘Bad Dreams’ sums up the 32-year-old’s appeal. Lyrically, it depicts our man in the middle of the night, engulfed by heartbreak, super-sensitive to “moving shadows and grinding teeth”. Musically, though, with its sedate pace, shimmery guitar licks and Swims’ falsetto delivery, the track’s as buoyant as the imaginary sheep he should be counting. This is hardly a new trick, but the juxtaposition takes on greater significance from a man who’s been through hardship and come through the other side; as surely as the sun will rise, you sense he’ll be OK.
Swims made his name sharing YouTube covers of everyone from Marvin Gaye to Amy Winehouse, and indeed ‘I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part Two)’ speaks to this eclecticism. The funk-fuelled ‘She Got It’ briefly segues into brooding trap, while he channels ‘Frank’-era Amy on the jazzy ‘Your Kind of Crazy’.
Best of all, though, is ‘Funeral’, which featured on the C24 mixtape. Its heartbreaking lyrics (“You wore that little black dress to my funeral”) are as timeless as its Motown sound, which is neatly updated with pounding house piano. At once old and new, steeped in pain yet deeply soothing, it’s Teddy Swims all over.
Details
Release date: January 24, 2025
Record label: Warner Records
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