Tones and I, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter and musician from Mount Martha, Melbourne. Her second single "Dance Monkey", released in May 2019 reached number one in over 30 countries and by November of that year, broke the record for the most weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart by any artist. Tones and I l [+]
Tones and I, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter and musician from Mount Martha, Melbourne. Her second single "Dance Monkey", released in May 2019 reached number one in over 30 countries and by November of that year, broke the record for the most weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart by any artist. Tones and I learned to play keyboards and drum pads while at secondary school and had started busking in Melbourne while inbetween her day-job as a Sales Rep in a clothing store. She then famously found herself living and busking in Byron Bay, leading a humble existence only a year ago and in the short space of time having a number one single with 'Dance Monkey' in over 30 countries around the world, a staggering achievement. Tones is a down to earth, even shy, sensitive but articulate and bright young woman with a kooky, amusingly whimsical stage name, a groovy fashion sense and an amusing video clip featuring herself and several others dressed up as plump, bearded old golf players. What's not to love about her? The lyrics of the song appear as an affectionate and encouraging entreat from a friend, stranger to a busker or a lover to do a funny, unusual little dance for them. It's a simple enough song with a catchy chorus on which Tones sings in the fashionable, back of the throat style widely used in mainstream pop for teenage audiences these days, but Tones really gives it her all, remarkably even sounding like 1930's US cartoon character Betty Boop at times. Tones explains the song is actually about the expectations placed on performers, people asking you to dance and sing, making you feel like a performing monkey. [...]
