MDMA

The Roast

“MDMA is the track on the catalog where Thomas finally admits, in the form of a four letter title, that he goes out. The introspective singer-songwriter genre has spent a decade pretending its core practitioners do not have nights they would rather not be remembered for, and every once in a while one of them writes a song that breaks that pretense. This is Thomas's. The track itself is a slow burner, which is the right choice. A song called MDMA that actually sounded like the experience would be unbearable. Instead you get the morning after. The thinking-about-it part. The wondering-what-you-said part. The production leans further into the afropop end of the spectrum than most of the catalog, with percussion that does most of the emotional work and a vocal that drifts in the way the substance in question actually drifts. Smart writing. Honest writing. The kind of song an independent artist makes when they have stopped trying to sound like anyone else.”

The Bright Side

MDMA is one of the most honest tracks in the catalog and probably the most musically adventurous. The slow-burner approach is the right one and the percussion is doing real work. This is what Thomas sounds like when he stops second-guessing.

Hardest Sneer

“Naming a song MDMA is a marketing decision before it is an artistic one. Every algorithmic playlist that touches party themes will pick it up. Every parent will not. Whether you find that funny or cynical depends on your relationship to streaming economics.”

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