Towa Bird Shares New Song and Video 'This Isn't Me'

08-04-2023

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(Interscope) Singer/songwriter/guitarist Towa Bird premieres her soul-baring new single "This Isn't Me" via Interscope Records. Accompanied by a slice-of-life video partly shot by Towa herself, "This Isn't Me" arrives as the Hong Kong-born artist gears up to join labelmate Alexander 23 as support for Renee Rapp's fall tour of North America.

A powerhouse musician known for her galvanizing guitar work, Towa brings both raw emotion and radiant imagination to "This Isn't Me" - a bittersweet portrait of feeling painfully out of place in a strange and alienating social situation.

"I moved to the U.S. in October 2021 and by February I was flown out to Paris for fashion week," explains Towa, who lives in Los Angeles. "Everyone there seemed to know each other, and I knew no one. Conversations didn't feel authentic. Questions felt layered. 'Who are you?' felt like 'Who can you be to me?'; 'Where are you from?' felt like 'Why do you deserve to be here?' (The answer: I didn't feel like I deserved to be there.) There were celebrities, carpets, catwalks, and paparazzi. It was a paradox - the opportunity was so amazing and I'm so grateful, but I felt entirely alone."

Written the day after Towa returned to L.A., "This Isn't Me" fully captures the self-consciousness and longing she experienced during her time in Paris ("Sycophants and luxury/Everyone's a somebody/And I wish you were with me/Pretending that we're VIP"). To create the song's collage-like soundscape, Towa worked closely with producer Thomas Powers (co-founder of New Zealand indie-pop band The Naked and Famous), adorning her unfiltered expression with everything from spacey synth to furiously pounding drumbeats. As her guitar work journeys from gracefully understated to gloriously shredding, Towa imbues every moment of "This Isn't Me" with her aching and intimate vocal delivery.

Directed by Towa and Luka McGhie, the montage-esque video for "This Isn't Me" unfolds in a series of self-filmed scenes from Towa's real life. The video also chronicles her time in the UK (where she partly grew up).

"This Isn't Me" will appear on Towa's forthcoming debut along with her previously released tracks "Boomerang" and "Wild Heart (hailed as "exuberant" by NYLON and "an infectious indie-pop romp" by Guitar World). Ones To Watch called Bird "a mastermind of catchy melodies" and Billboard said, "Towa Bird's knack for building a pop song around a fiery guitar solo might be her greatest strength."

This fall, Towa will hit the road as support for Reneé Rapp's Snow Hard Feelings Tour - a North American run also featuring support from Alexander 23. Kicking off on September 15 in Houston and continuing through November 3 at Terminal 5 in New York City, the 30+-date run will see Towa taking the stage at iconic venues like The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Tour Dates
Sep 15 - Bayou Music Center - Houston, TX
Sep 17 - Southside Ballroom - Dallas, TX
Sep 18 - Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater - Austin, TX
Sep 20 - The Mission Ballroom - Denver, CO
Sep 21 - The Union Event Center - Salt Lake City, UT
Sep 25 - SOMA - San Diego, CA
Sep 28 - Arizona Financial Theatre - Phoenix, AZ
Sep 30 - The Greek Theatre- Los Angeles, CA
Oct 02 - Fox Theater - Oakland, CA
Oct 05 - Queen Elizabeth Theatre - Vancouver, BC
Oct 06 - Roseland Theater - Portland, OR
Oct 07 - The Paramount Theatre- Seattle, WA
Oct 10 - The Fillmore - Minneapolis, MN
Oct 11 - Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom - Chicago, IL
Oct 13 - Egyptian Room at Old National Centre- Indianapolis, IN
Oct 14 - The Fillmore - Detroit, MI
Oct 16 - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN
Oct 17 - Coca-Cola Roxy - Atlanta, GA
Oct 18 - The Fillmore Charlotte - Charlotte, NC
Oct 21 - MTELUS - Montreal, QC
Oct 22 - HISTORY - Toronto, ON
Oct 24 - The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
Oct 25 - Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 27 - The Anthem - Washington, DC
Oct 28 - Roadrunner - Boston, MA
Oct 30 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Nov 02 - Avant Gardner - Brooklyn, NY
Nov 03 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY