Australian pop newcomer TAMMA has announced her new single Beat You Down will be released on October 12.
After a difficult few years of loss and devastation for the singer, whose real name is Tammy Martin, the single celebrates triumph over hardship. “As I was writing Beat You Down, I thought about my family and the hard stuff we have faced in recent years,” she explains. “I’ve had vocal surgery twice – however, losing my voice and identity seemed trivial after the tragic and sudden loss of my nephew Buddy in 2016. I realised how quickly life can change and turn on you. Suddenly my main priority was to get my family and myself through the grief and confusion.”
TAMMA says that music is her healer, and wanted to write a song that would help her family feel uplifted. “I was thinking about my little nieces (and nephews) navigating through life at different ages and stages,” she says. “Trying to understand loss on top of that is so hard. Beat You Down came at the last minute and it’s a message for my nieces: if they ever feel discouraged or hurt, don’t let it beat you down. Stay close to your loved ones – life’s bigger than letting toxic people or trivial things get to you.”
TAMMA has also announced a video to accompany Beat You Down, directed by Damien Blue (Slow Pulp) and filmed at the iconic Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. The video sees TAMMA and her friends skateboard their way around Venice Beach. “[It’s] a place close to my heart for many reasons,” she explains. “The warmth, the weirdness, the music, blue skies and palm trees, but mainly because of my awesome mates who live there.” TAMMA chose skateboarding to form a visual representation of how persistence and resilience pay off. “I have always loved and respected skateboarding since I was a kid,” she says. “It’s an art form that requires courage to master it. You get physically hurt as well as rejected from society and little recognition, but you get up again.”
Beat You Down is set for release on October 12, via True Music. TAMMA will celebrate the release of her new single with a performance at Farouk’s Olive in Northcote on October 21.
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