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Artist Biography
As One True Pairing, former Wild Beasts bassist/vocalist Tom Fleming continues to explore the complexity of masculinity as well as larger issues like class and Brexit's impact on the U.K. On 2019's One True Pairing, Fleming expressed this intersection of the personal and the political with a rough-edged set of songs that combined his rich baritone, anthemic '80s heartland rock and gritty synth pop.
Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Fleming began making music as a teenager in northern England, recording himself on his four-track cassette recorder. In 2005, while studying in Leeds, he became the bassist for Wild Beasts. The band's freewheeling, chamber pop-inspired music earned critical acclaim that included a Mercury Prize nomination for 2009's Two Dancers, as well as commercial success: their 2014 album Smother debuted in the Top 10 of the U.K. Albums Chart. Following the release of 2017's Boy King, Wild Beasts called it quits.
After the band's farewell to their fans, which included the release of the EP Punk Drunk and Trembling, a tour and a collection of definitive songs recorded live at RAK Studios (Last Night All My Dreams Came True), Fleming took some time off to let the dust settle. When he began writing again, he drew on the class issues fueling Brexit and other political tumult in the U.K., as well as the concepts of masculinity he explored with Wild Beasts. Taking the name One True Pairing from the internet fan fiction term for the perfect relationship, Fleming borrowed from the blue-collar storytelling of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty as well as from the harder-edged synth stylings of Swans and Depeche Mode for its sound. He recorded the project's debut album with producer/mixer Ben Hillier (who also played drums and synths), and One True Pairing appeared in September 2019 on Domino Records. ~ Heather Phares
Hometown
England
Genre
Alternative