Initially known for his work with Forgive Durden and Cardiknox, Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Dutton is the create mastermind behind the rising, solo, synth pop project Only Twin.
Back in Seattle, every show Dutton went to gave him a sense of longing. It didn’t matter if they were playing to dozens or hundreds, the band was up on that stage tearing their hearts out in front of the world. Dutton knew he wanted to be up there on a stage, like the bands he was catching as a fan. As a teen, carpooling with his friends’ older siblings meant expose to bands and songs he had never heard before. Songs that weren’t played on the radio — and songs that opened his eyes and ears in transformative ways. “I’m always trying to capture that feeling I had when I was discovering music that changed my life,” Dutton says.
Inspired by the likes of The 1975 and Bon Iver, Only Twin emerged out of necessity. When Cardiknox split up, producing became Dutton’s full-time job, and he wanted to start a project that showed himself as a left-of-center, indie pop aesthete. But as Dutton used music to process both the dissolution of Cardiknox and a breakup, Only Twin took a life of its own. “It started as a way to carve out a little space for myself,” he says. “But as I started reclaiming tracks I’d written for other people, the project gave me closure on a huge chapter in my life.”
Dutton’s sophomore Only Twin effort, the recently released it Feels Nice to Burn sees him bottling that sense of nostalgia. “I still feel like that wide-eyed 13-year-old at his first show in a lot of ways,” he says. Thematically, It Feels Nice to Burn continues the exploration of love, rebirth and new beginnings that he explored on his Only Twin debut, 2021’s Rare Works. Sonically, the new album sees Dutton finding the sweet spot between left-of-center indie pop and dreamy rock, while marking the next chapter of his life, one that sees him embracing the love of a lifetime and fatherhood. Unsurprisingly, the experience of falling in love, getting married and raising a child has given new meaning to his music and to himself.
When the Night-era St. Lucia-like album single “Give You Up” is slow-burning, seemingly 80s rom-com-inspired song featuring glistening synths, gated reverberated drums, bursts of twinkling keys, bursts of shimmering and squiggling guitars paired with Dutton’s plaintive delivery paired with the Seattle-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s unerring knack for crafting swooningly earnest tracks with big hooks and choruses.
“Give You Up” is rooted in lived-in personal experience with the song describing the moment Dutton and his wife “jumped into the deep end” of their burgeoning relationship.
Directed by The Director Brothers, the accompanying video for “Give You Up” stars Julianne Hough as a bored office drone, who has an odd yet adorable affair with an old office copier that plays on rom-com tropes.