FFO: Tom A. Smith – Little Bits

Tom A. Smith is an artist who needs no introduction, having done most things a musician could only dream of (support Elton John, play Glastonbury, receive national press and radio coverage, etc) by the age of 18. He kicks off the year with the release of his new single, Little Bits, a song he wrote on tour with Gang Of Youths and produced by Larry Hibbit (who’s worked with the likes of Marmozets, Dinosaur Pile-Up). The song is a galloping indie-rock offering with and anthemic chorus and elements reminiscent of local contemporaries Sam Fender and The Futureheads.

Here, Tom gives us a flavour of the new single using other tracks…

Gang of Youths – Magnolia
Last year I toured with Gang of Youths and played at wonderful venues like Brixton Academy, Barrowlands and Albert Hall.  On one of the days, I got into a discussion with David Le’Aupepe (frontman/songwriter) about how he actually structured a song when songwriting.  I traditionally write a song on acoustic and then expand it.  He starts with the instrumental and then adds from there.  It was a little more complicated than that, but I decided the next song I wrote I’d try it in that way and this is what I ended up with. I love Magnolia because it just flies by, live it’s an absolute monster too.

Robert Tepper – No Easy Way Out
Rocky IV is my favourite film and this song is my favourite from the movie.  Lyrically it’s not an inspiration really but it’s in THAT FILM!!!! and I wanted to create something that would fit nicely in the soundtrack. I suppose my song is much closer to Eye of The Tiger but that was in more than just Rocky IV so I chose that one.  I love that idea of pushing yourself and having the unwavering belief to get what you want in life.  I don’t think anyone should be able to dictate what you can and can’t achieve.

Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody
 I could have chosen any stadium rock band here, U2, The Killers, Bon Jovi are all of equal merit. Use Somebody is just a massively overplayed, huge song that you would hear the whole of Wembley Stadium singing back. My aim was to create that tune that deserves to be sung in a full stadium.  The Woah-oh-oh’s and the overall massiveness was really important to me.  Everything is so delicate and similar these days and I just love how theatrical stadium rock is and wanted to try it myself.  It’s a lot more commercial sounding than my angrier other stuff but I like the fact that it drives on and motivates you.