Tvål is a two-piece electronic group that formed after the disbandment of psyche-rockers Thee Telepaths. The duo recently released an incredible eponymously titled LP, which has received rave reviews. Indeed, Electronic Sound simply said it was: “Stupendous.”
There’s more. You can enjoy a live Tvål set at Chelmsford’s Hot Box on Sunday, 20 July. The duo also kindly answered a few questions for me (see below).
Kettering-based Tvål comprises Dean Cumming (vocals, synths, samples) and Thomas J. Wright (synths, sequencer, sampler, drum machine). Dean writes the lyrics and sings; Tom generally does the beats and basslines and the samples. They share the melodies and arrangements between them and music production is done in collaboration. Everything on the LP down to the sleeve and the mastering was completed at their own studio. Their debut LP is the first time in everything they’ve done together in all the years that has been completely DIY.
What’s in a name, Tvål?
People will want to know! What does Tvål signify? Why did you choose it. Is it a made-up word?
It’s a real word – it means ‘soap’ in Swedish, but it doesn’t really mean anything in the context of the group. We were after a one-word name that sounded good and scanned well. It was difficult to find one in English that hadn’t already been taken in recent history. We considered ‘Två’ as it’s Swedish for ‘Two’ – there are two of us now and it’s our second band – but that had been taken recently too…
Is the building in the album artwork connected?
It’s not, although – funnily enough – people tend to assume that the pic was taken somewhere in Scandinavia! It’s actually Corby, Northamptonshire in the mid-1970s. We grew up there. It looked like that until around 1990 or so. That’s when the fountain you can see got taken out. The building is still there but you can’t see it from that vantage point as there’s a building stood there now, where the photographer was standing. It’s a bit like looking at something that’s there but isn’t really there anymore. That is sort of what we’ve gone for with the music.
When I first heard about Tvål, I couldn’t find your music on <cough> Spotify? And there doesn’t appear to be digital release on Bandcamp. Are you pursuing the vinyl-only route?
It is on Bandcamp as a digital download, but we decided against Spotify this time around (although we did do it with Thee Telepaths). It’s useful for searching for some music but it’s not great for small artists. Nobody ever paid for making their next record with Spotify sales and the sound isn’t great. You can really notice that when you listen to your own music on there. All the stuff that you spend ages building nuance into, all that lushness you strive toward, gets really compressed.
Ex-Thee Telepaths
As mentioned, you both were in Thee Telepaths, which was a fuzzed up, psyche unit. Explain to the readers the shift in dynamic from being a guitar-based group to an electronic set up. More freedom? Or are electronics way more unreliable than stringed instruments?
We used GarageBand on Thee Telepaths The Velvet Night LP. We’d put a bunch of different keyboard sounds on it – mainly classic stuff like Mellotrons for flutes and strings, Moogy stuff, Wurlitzer piano. Whereas on our earlier work it had been pretty much limited to that classic psychey Vox Continental sound.
We were carrying on further down that path in writing what should have been the second LP, which got impacted by the lockdown. Collaboration was mainly via the internet and we got more into looping and starting to experiment with more electronic sounds as a result. Some of the song ideas we were passing between us were great but weren’t really things that would work with Thee Telepaths because they were so electronic and we put them to one side. Then the lights went back on and we went back to doing Thee Telepaths.
Interests diverged
However, we soon found we wanted different things from it and the band split. The two of us had been enjoying the electronic end of things and so thought we’d try it out as something we might do live. So, we started buying equipment and practising and writing more new things.
Our way of songwriting is similar to what we did collectively in Thee Telepaths. That is, we’ll kick around ideas, refine them, and build them over time. We add and subtract layers and move the arrangements around. Sometimes it’s based on ideas we might have had individually years ago. In some ways, using lots of different synthesisers is us going for something similar to what we were trying to achieve with lots of effects pedals on our guitars. We love the fuzz but we fancied doing something a bit different, although still quite psychedelic.
We like a whole load of things – krautrock, obviously, and lots of different types of music made with synths, but we love a lot of other things like post-punk, post-bop, dub, afrobeat, mutant disco stuff. You can find psychedelia in all those things. Electronic gear – especially samplers – makes it a bit easier to incorporate ideas from those things into what we’re doing.
Similarities between the two acts?
What elements do you think have you consciously brought over to Tvål? Or maybe subconsciously.
Probably the repetition and the layers, which we experiment a bit with arrangements across the tunes, and that we’re aiming for similar parts of the consciousness to what some of the more guitar-based psych does. Although we’re a bit more gentle with it now than we were. As mentioned, we write similarly (but with fewer people), although we’ve tried to change stuff around a bit and unlearn some stuff too, like the urge to go over the top!
Return to an old haunt
You two return to Chelmsford a few years after Thee Telepaths played at various times at The Bassment and Hot Box. What did you enjoy most about playing here?
We’ve played in Chelmsford three times. First time in The Bassment in 2017 and then twice after that at the Hot Box in 2018 and 2019. It’s been a totally lovely crowd every time, who’ve been into the gig and really friendly to us too, made us feel super-welcome. Same with the folks that put the gigs on too. We’ve met a few people there that we’ve stayed in touch with for a long time now!
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Tvål form the centrepiece of what is sure to be an incredible afternoon of music. Chelmsford electronica wunderkind brokenatoms, aka Chris Adam, will perform a live set also. The event, which will celebrate the spirit of the recently departed music geniuses Brian Wilson and Sly Stone, kicks off at 3 pm with DJs keeping the vinyl spinning before, between, and after the live acts. Expect afrobeat, shoegaze, drone, electronica and much more. All for the insanely cheap advance fee of £8. In other words, the average London price of a single pint of lager. Please purchase your ticket here.
Tvål’s eponymous debut LP is out now on Cracked Plastic.
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Andy McCulloch
I am a music writer, blogger, and promoter. I originally established Even Butterflies Make A Sound to re-print music reviews of mine that were published last century. However, the blog has taken on a life of its own and is the better for that.
Photo by Nadia @Morganistik
