Tom Misch – ‘Full Circle’ album review: The sound of a newly graduated songwriter
It’s been over ten years since Tom Misch first emerged on the music circuit. But back then, he felt a little bit like a soundtrack. A catalogue of songs would be released on some aptly titled mixtape that felt like ambient bedroom music dusted with a little more musicianship than you would find on the ten-hour YouTube video that would serve as the competition.
The Skinny: Now, with Full Circle, his first album in five years, it feels like he’s finally cracked the art of songwriting. Stepping away from four-minute noodle loops that don’t really serve any ideation purpose and into a more crystallised vision, where his talent as a multi-instrumentalist is being presented in a far more nuanced, and dare I say it, mature fashion.
‘Flowers In Bloom’ is a nice opener that pits Misch’s muted style into usual territory, and I worried it would be simply that: nice. Which his music always has been. But then the overarching idea of this record began to unveil itself track after track, with ‘Red Moon’, ‘Slow Tonight’ and ‘Sisters With Me’ cementing something that was wholly welcomed – the vibrant jazz licks had found a home within the songs.
The drum tracks are no longer serving as a placeholder for those licks to dance around, and instead, they drive the direction of the song, as they did when he teamed up with Yussef Dayes on What Kinda Music. There’s almost a mid-tempo indie rock feel to them at points, which, while somewhat cliché-sounding, actually gives the songs a proper sense of body that accompanies Misch’s voice to a point where he feels like a confident frontman.
‘Old Man’ and ‘Running Away’ feel like appropriately existential moments for the middle of an album that has laid out a storytelling trajectory. Both songs nicely dim down the lights before one of the album’s standouts, ‘Goldie’, can turn them back on again, with the acoustic guitar strum that has almost become the signature of this record. It is the moment where Misch proved what I felt most pleased by on this record, which is his growth into an actual songwriter as opposed to a talented musician.
‘Echo In The Flames’, as nice as it is, did see him briefly returning to familiar territory, before the final stage of the album ushered in, providing some of his most accomplished songs on the record.
‘Fear Can’t Hurt Anymore’ is a well-layered soft-rock song that pulls at the heartstrings, while ‘Sultans Of Silence’ celebrates the harmonies that have been quietly echoing throughout the record, marking Full Circle as a point of difference for Misch.
Standout track: ‘Goldie’
The Verdict: Guitar licks have always been popular for a reason, but there comes a point when depth is needed beyond them. That’s traditionally where Misch’s music has come unstuck, but a five-year break and a heartfelt creative decision to keep the ideas relatively simple and at the behest of the acoustic guitar have proven that over a decade into the game now, Misch is a serious songwriter.
Release Date: March 27th, 2025 | Producer: Tom Misch | Label: Beyond The Groove / AWAL Recordings
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.