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Tomora’s Come Closer is an ecstatic love letter to 90s dance music
Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Entertainment Column Close Column Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Column Music Close Music Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Music Tomora’s Come Closer is an ecstatic love letter to 90s dance music The collab between Norwegian singer Aurora and Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowland was a surprise Coachella highlight. The collab between Norwegian singer Aurora and Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowland was a surprise Coachella highlight. by Terrence O'Brien Close Terrence O'Brien Weekend Editor Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Terrence O'Brien Apr 26, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC Link Share Gift Image: Tomora Part Of What we’re listening to, watching, and reading right now. see all updates Terrence O'Brien Close Terrence O'Brien Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Terrence O'Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget. Before Coachella, Tomora wasn’t on my radar at all. It’s actually only by chance that I stumbled upon them — I opened the wrong stream because my TV was lagging like a MFer. I paused for a few moments, entranced by the two ethereal Nordic women banging on giant drums to a techno beat. I made a mental note to check them out the following weekend, because Drain was the priority (especially since the Sonora stage wasn’t streaming on weekend two). It was only later that I would find out that Tomora is a collaboration between Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora and Tom Rowlands, one-half of the Chemical Brothers. Suffice it to say, they were incredible, and I immediately checked out the record, Come Closer, after watching their week two set. Admittedly, the studio album can’t quite capture the ecstatic catharsis of the Coachella set (seriously, I need to see them live), but it’s still an incredible work. It’s a love letter to ‘90s European dance music, dabbling in big beat, trip hop, and techno. After opening with a series of ghostly overlapping vocal drones, the title track kicks in, with an abstract purr of synths and Aurora chanting “come closer to me.” The song slowly builds, changing very little until about 1:55 mark, at which point Aurora belts out a wordless plea for human connection. Then the whole thing resets, and we get another build to the climax of the song — more of Aurora’s astonishing vocal runs over Rowland’s washes of buzzy electronics. That’s followed by the trip hop-inflected “Boy Like You,” before finding full rave mode on the lead single “Ring the Alarm.” The relentless needling melody, the perfect sidechained kick and bass throb, plus the singular vocal performance render this an instant classic. “Ring the Alarm” might already be my most played song of the year, and I’ve only been listening to the album for two weeks. “My Baby” and “I Drink the Light” feel like classic Chemical Brothers psychedelic plays for pop radio, living comfortably alongside “ Let Forever Be ”, “ Wide Open ,” and “ Setting Sun ” in Rowland’s catalog. In contrast to the live show, Tomora mostly lives in this lane on record. The songs may be dancey, but they’re rarely bombastic. Occasionally, they’re even slinky, as on the Massive Attack-esque “The Thing.” They leave plenty of room for Aurora’s harmonies and infections. “Somewhere Else” and “In a Minute” are the only other pure four-on-the-floor ragers. But they’re both album highlights with gorgeous melodies that back up the beats. I challenge you not to dance your ass off to these songs. Tomora’s Come Closer is available on most major streaming services, including Apple Music , YouTube Music , Qobuz , Deezer , and Spotify . Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Terrence O'Brien Close Terrence O'Brien Weekend Editor Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Terrence O'Brien Column Close Column Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Column Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Entertainment Music Close Music Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Music More in: What we’re listening to, watching, and reading right now. Horror Lex is a free database of academic literature for horror nerds. Terrence O'Brien Apr 19 The Stars My Destination is classic proto-cyberpunk
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