Billy Nomates, the project of the Bristol-based songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Tor Maries, today shares a new track and video, “spite”, with an accompanying video directed by nwspk. The spiky, synth-powered single’s refrain, “Don’t you act like I ain’t the fucking man”, serves as both a reproach to anyone underestimating her, and as a personal pep talk.
As she explains, “How are you going to deal with anything if you don’t have that self-belief?” The track is another taste from her much anticipated second studio album, CACTI, set for release on 13 January 2023 via Invada Records. Watch the video below.
The track follows the release of “saboteur forcefield”, on which Tor lays bare her propensity for self-sabotage, an admission she hopes could be the first step towards unlearning some of her destructive patterns. It also follows two BBC Radio 6 Music A-Listed singles; “blue bones”, a gentle, 80s-influenced, synth-pop bop which was a celebration of life, featuring the refrain, “Death don’t turn me on like it used to”, and “balance is gone”, which charted Tor’s attempts to find purpose.
Billy Nomates plays a sold-out London show at Village Underground tonight, followed by a run of dates around the UK, with sold-out shows in Oxford, Norwich, Bristol and Falmouth. Another UK and European tour has been announced for April 2023, which includes a new show in her hometown of Bristol at Marble Factory on 29th April and her biggest headline show to date at London’s Kentish Town Forum on 27th April 2023. Tickets are available here, and full live dates are as listed below. To catch a taste of what to expect from Billy Nomates live, watch her outstanding performance on Later… With Jools Holland.
22/11/22 – London – Village Underground – SOLD OUT
23/11/22 – Oxford – The Bullingdon – SOLD OUT
24/11/22 – Cambridge – MASH
26/11/22 – Norwich – Norwich Arts Centre – SOLD OUT
27/11/22 – Sheffield – Leadmill
28/11/22 – Stoke-on-Trent – Sugarmill
29/11/22 – Liverpool – Arts Club
01/12/22 – Bristol – Trinity – SOLD OUT
03/12/22 – Falmouth – Cornish Bank – SOLD OUT
14/3/23 – Grand Mix, Lille, France
15/3/23 – Petit Bain, Paris, France
16/3/23 – L’astrolabe, Orleans, France
17/3/23 – Rockschool Barbey, Bordeaux, France
20/3/23 – El Sol, Madrid, Spain
22/3/23 – La Nau, Barcelona, Spain
24/3/23 – Le Périscope, Lyon, France
25/3/23 – Covo Club, Bologna, Italy
27/3/23 – Magnolia, Milan, Italy
28/3/23 – Bogen F, Zurich, Switzerland
29/3/23 – Milla, Munich, Germany
31/3/23 Badehaus, Berlin, Germany
1/4/23 – Loppen, Copenhagen, Denmark
2/4/23 – Molotow, Hamburg, Germany
4/4/23 – Blueshell, Cologne, Germany
5/4/23 – Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands
6/4/23 – Botanique Orangerie, Brussels, Belgium
17/4/23 – Tramshed, Cardiff
19/4/23 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
20/4/23 – New Century Hall, Manchester
21/4/23 – Stylus, Leeds
22/4/23 – St Lukes, Glasgow
24/4/23 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle
25/4/23 – Institute 1, Birmingham
27/4/23 – Kentish Town Forum, London
28/4/23 – Chalk, Brighton
29/4/23 – Marble Factory, Bristol
Recorded at her flat and at Invada Studios, CACTI, is a huge step up for the artist, who received widespread critical acclaim for her eponymous 2020 debut album, with heavy airplay across BBC Radio 6 Music and support from luminaries such as Iggy Pop, Florence Welsh and Steve Albini.
Though every bit as unrepentant as Billy Nomates’ debut, CACTI comes from a much more exposed place and sees Tor further develop her instinctive, inventive songwriting and production. Unafraid to wade into the traumas of the past two years and the eerie sense of apathy that lingers, alongside heartache and more political themes, the 12-track collection openly confronts uncomfortable truths, as Tor puts it, “70-80% of being bold is about being vulnerable as hell.”
Maries said: “Writing CACTI took just over a year. I wrote very intensely and then none at all. (This seems to be the way I work best). I picked up old drum machines, mapped out things in my kitchen with the same small micro keyboard I always use and then raided the cupboards and rooms at Invada Studios, to play and experiment with old synths, an upright piano, this weird organ thing. I hope everyone finds their own narrative in CACTI. I think it’s about surviving it all.”
Tracklist:
balance is gone
black curtains in the bag
blue bones (deathwish)
CACTI
saboteur forcefield
roundabout sadness
spite
fawner
same gun
vertigo
apathy is wild
blackout signal
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