Garage-rocker Kyle Thomas released his latest King Tuff record, The Other, last April. The album sees Thomas trying out some very different styles of music. Our song the day, “Raindrop Blue,” was the third single shared ahead of the album and, as a slick, funky dance jam, is a strong exemplification of the sonic changes on the album. This change comes from taking a breather from King Tuff and involving himself in other projects. “I’d never played a show with just an acoustic guitar,” he says. “It just seemed like the scariest thing. I knew I wanted to write some new songs that could stand up in that kind of setting, which really opened the door to a new way of working.” Thomas played every instrument on the album except drums and saxophone and produced everything himself, only bringing in Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alabama Shakes) to assist in mixing. “I knew I wanted to record myself on my own time in my own space, so I put together a studio in a room in my house we called the Pine Room. It was like being inside of a wood-paneled spaceship. Suddenly I had all of this new crazy gear that I had no idea how to use in any sort of technical or ‘correct’ way. I just embraced the beauty of not knowing, which I think is where you get interesting things happening.”
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