About Sound

There’s always been a bit of mystery about Tom Emlyn. On the one hand, he’s everywhere – in the past few years you may have seen him with Mr Bewlay, Papa Jupe’s T.C, Rainyday Rainbow and many more. But on the other hand, despite releasing five really fine full length albums in the past three years, he remains somewhat of an enigma. Who is Tom Emlyn?

Due to the sheer prolificness of his writing (God Is In The TV Zine called him Wales most prolific musician) and desire to release this music to prevent stockpiling, Tom has often, by his admission, not given his own music the attention and devotion it deserves once it has hit the shelves.

Both the timing and energy of new single Starsick suggests Tom is going to give 2026 his very best, and with the song already being played by 6Music, Absolute Radio and added to Bethan Elfyn’s Welsh Mix, this approach is certainly paying off.

Not that Tom’s music has ever lacked energy (see Kafka, Tommy Cooper, Scrounger), but with Evan Collett (Tom Emlyn, Rainyday Rainbow) on production, offering perhaps a different perspective and an extra pair of ears, Tom seems to have found an extra dimension. Starsick is a killer album lead single and offers proof that indie music in 2026 doesn’t have to be a vapid copy n paste of literally anything from the last 25 years. There’s this band called The Lilacs…

Starsick is a statement single from Tom, full of twists, turns and delightful hooks to keep the listener fully engaged for the full 2 mins and 7 seconds. He has just announced his new album, Passing Craze, with Welsh label Dirty Carrot Records, out mid-May. The album is available to preorder now from the website below:

https://www.dirtycarrotrecords.co.uk/product-page/tom-emlyn-passing-craze-vinyl

“Starsick” is out now on all of the usual streaming platforms via Dirty Carrot Records

Spotify
Facebook
Insta

Gavin Facey – 21/02/2026