Tom Grennan
Tom Grennan is late. Calling me as he runs to catch the tube, the Bedford born songwriter is meant to be on a train to Manchester in half an hour and it looks like it’s gonna be tight. I ask if he’s heading up North to work on his highly anticipated debut album, but the 22-year-old won’t give anything away. “There’s an album plan, that’s all I’m saying. I don’t know where or when it’s actually going to happen, but it is happening!”
Fresh from his biggest show to date at London’s Union Chapel, it’s hard to believe that music was never the original plan for Grennan. Initially set to pull a David Beckham and move to the States to play footy, he found music and, quicker than you can say “golden balls”, he decided to stay on this side of the pond to pursue that dream. And it’s a good thing he did, as soon after his soulful vocals caught the attention of electronic heavyweights, Chase and Status. Immediately after hearing Grennan play, they were on the phone, desperate for him to collaborate on 2016’s dance floor filler “When It All Goes Wrong”.
Catapulting him into the spotlight, Grennan’s standout emotive singing style was instantly praised. “I don’t really know [where it came from],” he tells me. “I just found my own voice and found out what Tom Grennan sounds like.” His debut EP, “Something In The Water”, soon followed, establishing his spot as the music world’s new favourite raspy-toned heartbreaker.
This year saw Tom rising to the top spot on almost every “Sound of 2017” list in existence, as well as releasing his poignantly raw new EP, “Release The Breaks”. Showing no signs of slowing down, he’s now selling out venues that seasoned musicians would struggle to, despite not having put out an album. When I ask what it’s like to get this kind of reaction, he laughs. “It’s mental. I find it all mad. I look in the mirror and I’m like ‘You’re jokes, mate,’ because I would never have expected this.” Well, we saw his talent from a mile off and this year is sure to be filled with more successes. Let’s just hope none of them require any more early morning train journeys, eh?
Photography - Daniel Ciufo
Fashion - Kamran Rajput
Grooming - Rebekah Lindstone
Wonderland Magazine Summer 2017 Issue
