Tones and I opens up on new music ahead of tour with P!nk and says she is keeping things simple

The top Aussie artist is back with a new single and a new album is on the way. She is though doing her best to not overthink the process. Here’s what she had to say.

Tones & I dreams of keeping things simple.

The top Aussie artist is back with a new single and a new album is on the way. She is though doing her best to not overthink the process.

“People add too many things because they want to prove something but I think the smartest thing you can do is give the song what it needs and just stop,” the singer, born Toni Watson, told The Daily Telegraph as she releases new single, Dreaming.

“Listeners aren’t going to want to sit there on their way to work, trades men and retail workers and nurses and stuff and say you should have a bit more synth in the background there. No one cares, just give the song what it needs so that it works and is listenable and punchy. Don’t overcook it.”

Artist Tones & I has released a new single, Dreaming. Picture: Giulia McGauran.

Tones & I, who started busking in Byron Bay and will support P!nk on her Australian tour this month, is one of Australia’s biggest international music exports globally.

P!nk has set a massive new record with the Summer Carnival tour, its 20 stadium concerts the most played by any artist in Australia, with an estimated 900,000 tickets sold when this leg winds up on March 23.

“P!nk was really keen on having Tones open because she wants to be empowering of female artists; you’ve seen in America she had Pat Benatar and her good friend Brandi Carlile play,” longtime Australian promoter Michael Coppel.

Tones & I is the only Australian opening act to be booked by a global pop star.

Her breakthrough hit, Dance Monkey, topped the charts in dozens of countries.

The pressure, the four-time ARIA Award winner conceded, has been backing up that momentum, which she has done with singles Cloudy Day, Never Seen The Rain and The Kids Are Coming.

Tones & I will tour with P!nk. Picture: Giulia McGauran.,

Dreaming was released Friday. It is about relationships, not hers specifically as the singer wed partner Jimmy Bedford last year.

“Is it dying? Do we want to try and repair this relationship and take it back to its former glory or do we leave it and just have the memories,” the singer explained.

Tones and I and her husband Jimmy Bedford.

Tones and I is a four-time Aria winner.

“The relationship isn’t really targeted for me. It could mean a relationship between a partner, it could be a friendship, but it is definitely a depleting relationship that you want to keep going.”

A release date is yet to be announced for Tones’ much anticipated second album. Her debut, Welcome to the Madhouse, came out in 2021.

“This is the craziest thing, my album is done but it hasn’t got a name,” she said. “That is stressing me to no end. It is the first album where I’ve written a song about love, not by choice, it just never wants to come out of me. There’s a few songs in there about my relationship, nostalgic songs about my past and friendships and things, no pessimistic songs like the last album. And I always go back to my childhood, I can’t help it.”

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