Froge.mp3 explained

Froge.mp3
Type:mixtape
Artist:Piri & Tommy
Cover:Piri & Tommy - Froge.png
Border:yes
Released:21 October 2022
Recorded:2020–2022
Length:35:46
Label:Polydor
Producer:Tommy Villiers

Froge.mp3 is the debut mixtape by Piri & Tommy. It charted at No. 13 on the UK Dance Albums Chart.

Released on 21 October 2022 and on vinyl on 22 April 2023 on Polydor Records, the album contains previous singles "Soft Spot", "Beachin", "Words", and "On & On", and eight additional tracks. The album was promoted by Froge.tour, a nine-date tour, and Froge.tv, a twelve-episode YouTube Shorts series. Critical reception was broadly positive, with Gigwise describing the album as the 45th best album of 2022, and NME rating it amongst the twenty best mixtapes and EPs of 2022.

Background and singles

Tommy Villiers began producing music in sixth form after his older brother[1] Hamish[2] began taking him to house parties, prompting Villiers to develop an interest in dance music. He wanted to replicate what he was hearing, and having received a Mac,[3] he began producing drum and bass tracks and uploading them to SoundCloud.[4] One of these tracks was "Caviar Hardcore", released on 14 May 2020.

Just before the second United Kingdom COVID-19 lockdown, he met Piri.[5] They met after she matched with him on Tinder and discovered Villiers' band Porij on Twitter, and then found Villiers' Instagram account[6] and asked him if she could "shoot [her] shot".[7] They began writing songs together after they realised that Piri could sing and Villiers could produce; the first song they wrote was "Sunlight",[8] and the first song they released was "It's a Match", a disco song they recorded after experimenting with numerous genres.[9]

On 4 June 2021, the pair released "Soft Spot", which went viral on TikTok and Spotify, prompting EMI to sign the pair, and re-release "Soft Spot"[10] under the name "Piri & Tommy Villiers" on 13 September 2021;[11] as Piri & Tommy, EMI also released "Beachin" on 28 January 2022 and "Words" on 22 April 2022. Polydor Records later signed them and released "On & On" on 28 July 2022.[12] The music videos for "Words"[13] and "On & On" contained frogs; when Piri met Tommy, she was in a phase of drawing frogs and toads, and they started calling each other 'froge' [14] as a nickname. Later, a crocheted frog hat would become part of Piri's signature look.[15]

Release and promotion

Piri & Tommy announced the release of the album in September 2022, with Piri describing it as "basically a diary of the first year tommy and I have been making music, and pretty much the first year of us knowing each other at all".[16] The project was intended as a mixtape, rather than an album; in an interview with Student Music Network UK, Piri stated that when they "were making these songs, [they] weren't really thinking of an album", and "were just kind of making like songs or doing what was best for each song and making just whatever we felt like making".[14]

Froge.mp3 was released on 21 October 2022,[17] with a vinyl release on 22 April 2023.[18] They promoted the mixtape with a nine-date tour, Froge.tour, in November 2022.[17] In addition, the pair uploaded a twelve episode YouTube Shorts series, froge.tv, in which Piri and Villiers explained what the album's songs were written about.[19]

Reception

Froge.mp3 charted at No. 13 on the UK Dance Albums Chart.[20] Reviews for the album were broadly positive; The Times called it "electric",[21] while Dork gave it five stars and called it an "air-tight, comprehensive taster of their potential".[22] AllMusic likened it to PinkPantheress' To Hell with It but with "a more Ibiza-friendly sound", and noted that "[a]ny of these tracks would sound perfect at a beach rave, but the lyrics and hooks stick with you, and they stand up to repeated home listens. [...] Fresh, vibrant, and deeper than it might seem on the surface, froge.mp3 is a gem".[23] The New Yorker called it "charming",[24] NME rated it amongst the twenty best mixtapes and EPs of 2022,[25] and Gigwise described the album as the 45th best album of 2022.[26] Reviewing a Froge.tour gig, The Guardian singled out "Silver Lining" for praise, and complimented its lyrics "How did we get this far?"[27] and "running out of time, I can still see a silver lining" .[27] The Soundboard Stereo described "On & On" as "pretty much the wormiest earworm going", though felt that little else was of the same standard, and that the mixtape's "very light, tactile pop / drum 'n' bass" was "not in any way equipped to convey" some of the lyrics on "Beachin", citing as an example "I got him bussin', he makin' some mayo".[28]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[29]

Musicians

Notes

  1. Web site: 30 September 2021 . Piri & Tommy Villiers - 1883 Magazine . 4 August 2023 . en-GB.
  2. Book: Morris, Susan . Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019 . 20 April 2020 . eBook Partnership . 978-1-9997670-5-1 . en.
  3. Web site: Miz w/ Piri & Tommy Villiers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230223113044/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih_vgk6f_kg%3Ft%3D394 . 23 February 2023 . 1 February 2023 . Reprezent Radio.
  4. Web site: 29 October 2021 . The Zoomer Embrace of Drum 'n' Bass . 4 August 2023 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  5. Web site: J . Trixie . 2023-04-04 . Piri and Tommy Rose from Viral Rookies to UK Dance's Next Big Ace . 2023-07-22 . Nexus Radio . en-US.
  6. 8 June 2022 . Capital Dance. MistaJam.
  7. Web site: Radio 1's Dance Party with Danny Howard, MK & Paul Woolford Hottest Record . 28 May 2023 . BBC Radio 1.
  8. Web site: piri & Tommy: Dynamic Duo. 4 March 2022. Notion. 5 February 2023. 5 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230205141847/https://notion.online/piri-tommy-dynamic-duo/. live.
  9. Web site: The Daisy Adams Show w/ Piri and Tommy Villiers 27th October 2021 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230213093946/https://www.mixcloud.com/reformradio/the-daisy-adams-show-w-piri-and-tommy-villiers-27th-october-2021/ . 13 February 2023 . 13 February 2023 . Reform Radio.
  10. Web site: The Zoomer Embrace of Drum 'n' Bass. 29 October 2021 . Pitchfork. 10 March 2023. 10 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230310111143/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/drum-n-bass-pinkpantheress-tiktok-column/. live.
  11. Web site: piri, Tommy Villiers - Soft Spot Album Reviews, Songs & More. AllMusic. 3 March 2023. 3 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230303223258/https://www.allmusic.com/album/soft-spot-mw0003594847. live.
  12. Web site: piri Singles and EPs discography . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230204123745/https://open.spotify.com/artist/4DpmPt7gfAAq7WEx0E1X8s/discography/single . 4 February 2023 . 4 February 2023 . Spotify.
  13. Web site: Piri And Tommy 'Words' by Rupert Holler Videos . 2023-09-12 . Promonewstv . en.
  14. Web site: piri & tommy: Student Radio Class of 2023. YouTube. 14 April 2023.
  15. Hype List 2023: piri & tommy: "You've just got to take one thing at a time". 30 November 2022. Dork. 24 January 2023. 24 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230124232749/https://readdork.com/features/hype-list-2023-piri-and-tommy/. live.
  16. Web site: piri & tommy Announce Debut Project 'froge.mp3' | News. Robin. Murray. September 21, 2022.
  17. piri & tommy have announced their debut project, 'froge.mp3'. 21 September 2022 . Dork. 4 March 2023. 4 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230304081850/https://readdork.com/news/piri-tommy-announce-debut-project-froge-mp3/. live.
  18. Web site: froge.mp3. Record Store Day. 4 March 2023. 4 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230304081850/https://recordstoreday.co.uk/rsd-list/piri-tommy/. live.
  19. Web site: piri & tommy launch 'froge.tv' YouTube Shorts serie. Withguitars.com. 7 March 2023. 3 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103234836/https://www.withguitars.com/piri-tommy-launch-froge-tv-youtube-shorts-serie/. live.
  20. Web site: Piri & Tommy . 17 November 2022 . 17 November 2022 . . 17 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221117015018/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/63549/piri-and-tommy/ . live .
  21. News: Helm . Jake . Piri and Tommy: meet the rising stars of pop . . https://archive.today/20221108175213/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/piri-and-tommy-meet-the-rising-stars-of-pop-xbsjrwl8t . 8 November 2022.
  22. piri & tommy – froge.mp3 . Finlay . Holden . 20 October 2022 . 17 November 2022 . . 17 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221117015019/https://readdork.com/albums/piri-tommy-froge-mp3/ . live .
  23. Web site: froge.mp3 - piri, piri & tommy, Tommy Villiers Release Info . 2023-06-14 . AllMusic . en.
  24. Piri Amp Tommy Froge Mp 3. The New Yorker.
  25. Web site: NME . 2022-12-13 . The 20 best mixtapes and EPs of 2022 . 2023-06-20 . NME . en-GB.
  26. Web site: Gigwise's 51 Best Albums Of 2022 Gigwise . 2023-06-14 . www.gigwise.com.
  27. News: Piri and Tommy review – infectious, candy-striped pop fun. The Guardian. 6 November 2022 . 4 March 2023. 15 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221215103419/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/06/piri-and-tommy-review-komedia-brighton. live. Petridis . Alexis .
  28. Web site: The Soundboard Stereo: Banshees, Beyoncé & Black Adam. 27 January 2023 . Thesoundboardreviews.com. 7 June 2023.
  29. froge.mp3 . . 21 October 2022 . Polydor Records.

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