Tones and I has come a long way since ‘Dance Monkey’ – a stretching testimony, maybe, considering the 2019 viral single went 15x platinum, hit number 1 in 30 countries, broke the record for most weeks at number 1 in Australia’s history, and now stands at over 2 billion streams on Spotify alone.

Tones ticked off more boxes with her second song than most do throughout their entire careers.

The Aussie singer, also known as Toni Watson, could have rested comfortably at the top, having established a name for herself with a massively successful single. The point is – she didn’t. Instead, the former busker picked up her bag of trophies and searched for the next ladder to climb.

The souvenir from her expedition arrived last summer. Welcome to the Madhouse, Tones and I’s debut album, is a poignant, often quirky yet deftly produced collection of fourteen tracks written solely by Tones herself. The record is testament to the singer’s unique vocal distinction. Her voice, simultaneously soulful and crackling, is a versatile instrument on a debut that embodies a sonic sense of escapism.

We find the Melbourne musician briefly resting back in Australia after kicking off the album tour in Mexico at her first-ever overseas festival. She gushes over the show, describing the productional elements – including a live twenty piece choir – in such vivid detail I feel like a backstage witness to it all.

 

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“I would love for people to see the elevation from the last show to this one,” she says proudly. “The level of production that came from having that time off, being a bit more successful and being able to actually put on a show.”

Despite a Spotify audience of 21.9 million, a Best Female Artist ARIA award and a new double platinum single with the cinematic track ‘Fly Away,’ Tones is continuously aiming for higher ground. Her newest single ‘Eyes Don’t Lie,’ from her upcoming EP releasing this August, is an emotional touchstone. The singer navigates loss through the connective tissue of her raw lyricism.

“It’s completely my song until I release it,” Tones says of her songwriting process when dealing with real life heartbreak. “By that time, I’d hope that I deal with it myself and then it’s off to the world to have their own feelings, whatever they feel and think.”

‘Eyes Don’t Lie’ is a barren, stripped exhibition of Tones’ powerful vocals – an indication pointing toward a new direction for the pop artist, whose decision to release an EP despite touring Welcome To The Madhouse for the next year is a product of her restlessness to constantly create.

But the Tones it seems the whole world has fallen in love with is nowhere near departure, with the singer sharing: “There is a track similar to that one, but then all of a sudden I just went really funky out of nowhere, and I loved it.”

Tones and I. Credit: Press

When a rising artist suddenly skyrockets into platinum territory, it’s inevitable that others will reach out — often to grab some gold of their own, sometimes with rare and good intentions. Tones wrapped the idea of collaboration in caution tape from the jump.

“It was kind of like I wouldn’t work with anyone at the start, because as a female in the music industry from Australia, I felt I had to prove myself that my success was my own. That was important to me. I didn’t want to look back and think that I couldn’t have done it on my own or that I had to rely on collaborating or producers or songwriters.”

At long last, Tones’ first collaboration arrives in pristine form in an upcoming single with Macklemore, who the Aussie singer-songwriter names as her sonic role model.

“With Macklemore, it was always a case of if he wanted to, whenever, I would’ve done it. I was not gonna live my life knowing I’d said no. So it came at a good time,” says Tones. “He’s a great human being and a good guy and I now know why everybody that meets him loves him.”

And though the success of ‘Dance Monkey’ produced a frenzy of complications she never planned on dealing with, it also placed Tones in a rare position with an even rarer power. The power of saying “no.”

“I definitely say ‘no.’ Straight away,” she assures me, when I ask how she turns down ideas from others about her work. “Someone actually sent me something that fully just sounded like ‘Dance Money.’ I was like, is this just my backing track?”

Her tone is a mixture of amusement laced with annoyance as Tones half laughs, half irritably declares, “You weren’t on that song? Sucks to be you, but no one wants to hear that track done again in a different way. That track has been played to death! I started the ‘Dance Money’ trend and ended it all in one. If you’re writing a song like ‘Dance Money,’ I promise you the world doesn’t want to hear it.”

“No! It’s done,” she snaps, drawing a clear line between how she came to be known and who she wants to be remembered as.

The journey of her artistic legacy is one she plans on travelling for many years to come, beginning with a recent busking tour of Australia. Following the release of Welcome To The Madhouse, Tones celebrated in full-circle fashion, returning to her busking roots in Byron Bay to play for the street masses.

“That was awesome. They were the biggest busking shows ever and we documented the whole thing,” she says, giddy from the moment I bring up busking. Her disposition shifts slightly as a melancholy wave of nostalgia takes over. “Something about when I was a real busker, it was cool because there were no expectations. Nobody expected to see me, and that will never be a thing again for me.

“If they didn’t like it, they didn’t stop – that was it. There were no horrible comments on social media, they just walked along and if they loved it, they stayed. It was so simple.”

Social media is a tricky subject for Tones, whose online presence is more of a necessity than a true display of her mostly private life. Between online trolling over her distinct vocals or haters’ comments about her music, Tones has heard it all: from the one-hit wonder insults and everything in between.

“Social media sucks because we all need it for our businesses,” she admits. “Most of the people in the world, if we’re honest, are so fun and genuine. But some people can make it a horrible place for everyone.

“I’m someone who very much is like, ‘That’s not my business, don’t say that.’ That’s how I’ll always be because it sucks.”

It makes sense then how Tones manages to create a safe world for her listeners within the space of her music. Welcome To The Madhouse is a moving force — the kind of album that guarantees to make you feel something, if only you stay for a while. Allow yourself to kick your feet up and ruminate within its four protective walls.

But it also showcases the effects of online cruelty and Tones’ relatable battle with mental health. The effect is a highly devoted audience caught by an artist’s addictive vocal prowess and raw vulnerability.

“I used to wonder what the one thing I had at my shows was, and I have love,” says Tones. “I have a lot of love at my shows.”

“I share the love and make everyone feel like it’s a small room of people. Because that’s how it was when I was busking. We were all there together and I think that’s something I want to make sure is always a part of my show.”

Ascension to global recognition is rarely straightforward, but Tones just wants to continue moving along on her own accord. For this Aussie talent, any noise outside of the music is just that: noise.

“I do what I do, and I don’t know how people receive it. I just do what I love to do.”

Listen to Tones and I's debut album, Welcome To The Madhouse, below.