Australia Day seemed like the right time to shine a light on some of this country’s most exciting First Nations artists. “Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo” came out of APRA/AMCOS’s first First Nations Songhub event, RESONATE. During the four-day songwriting camp, Tessa Thames ended up in a room with 18YOMAN and Becca Hatch. Tasman Keith stuck his head into the studio and the magic happened.
Getting artists with such different styles together is always exciting to me. Tessa usually creates bedroom-pop numbers, but the influences of her collaborators have brought a little hip-hop, R&B flavour to this song. It’s totally addictive.
“A lot of times you can end up in the studio with people you love and think they’re the best and then not come up with anything! Just being lucky enough to work with these guys was such a blessing, but to click like we did and create something I really love is a crazy bonus,” Tessa said. “Vin (18YOMAN) is such a genius and just a lovely calming presence in the studio and Becca and I were bouncing off each other with melodies and harmonies and lyrical concepts … it was such a fun time! Then having Tas stick his head in the door and be like ‘I think I can do something here…’ it’s just incredible. Not to mention after all that, Tas passed the track onto his boy Kwame who then shared it with Kymie and they both added these slick, cool production elements to 18YOMAN’s already ridiculous foundation … I feel like I’ve accidentally assembled the Avengers on this one!”
“Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo” has become Tessa’s biggest single after being added to Spotify’s New Music AU & NZ, Indie Arrivals, and Local List playlists.
Image used with permission from August MGMT