Tomten Announce “Artichoke” Album & Share New Single, “Ursula”

Seattle-based baroque pop quartet Tomten has announced their latest album, Artichoke, which is set to drop on April 28th, 2023, via Plume Records. In anticipation of the album’s release, the band has also released a new single titled “Ursula.”

According to Tomten’s bassist Dillon Sturtevant, “Ursula” was the final song written for the album, and draws inspiration from the idea of “making the complicated simple, awesomely simple” borrowed from jazz legend Charles Mingus. Sturtevant says, “There is something with this arrangement and chord structure where I was trying to get a piece of that… A lot of those soul arrangements include those kind of dramatic moments while still delivering on a simple pop hook.”

The track features an arrangement and chord structure reminiscent of Philly soul, with dramatic moments and a simple pop hook. Sturtevant also cites a few favorite sounds on the track, including a smoky guitar counter-melody, backing vocals, and a Moog synthesizer in the outro.

Listen to Tomten’s “Ursula” below

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Artichoke is a warm pastoral daydream, with inspirations drawn from the Madcap folk rock of The Incredible String Band, to the syrup soul of The Delfonics, the country tinge of Happy End or Gene Clark, with the gentle guitar picking of John Martyn or Bridget St. John.

Tomten’s lineup includes Brian Noyes on vocals, keys, guitars, and bass, Dillon Sturtevant on vocals, guitars, and bass, Jake Brady on guitars, bass, and drums, and Bryan Appleby on drums and vocals. The band has been recording their recent albums at The Unknown recording studio in Anacortes, WA, which was started by Nicholas Wilbur (Briana Marela, Sumac), and Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie, The Microphones).