“Music needs someone who stands firm in their weirdness and what they believe in.” Prophetic words from self-proclaimed oddball Joseph Christopher (fka IYES) who has been anonymously sharing indie-pop tunes under the moniker WEIRDO throughout this past year. Aside from a very early and now non-existent demo from 2014, TMR have firmly been at Weirdo’s side. Drawn in by first release ‘Butter’, our fanship was confirmed with sequels ‘Armanio’ and ‘Attitude’. Each one presents a different facet of JC as a musician, but also as a human being, with the songs taking inspiration from real life interactions. In new track ‘Sapphire’, this Berlin-via-Brighton artist thinks on the experience of being let down and disappointed, something often referred to as feeling blue. Originally penned out as a ballad, you can hear that idea, with JC’s breathy falsetto and the piano arrangement. However, it wouldn’t be a WEIRDO track if things were so straight-laced. In the second half, a series of crashing symbols, fuzzy synths, glam guitar riffs, and reverberated vocal wails give ‘Sapphire’ an almighty atmosphere. - HT