It might be most helpful to think of Tommy Paxton-Beesley as Toronto’s one-man answer to Rhye, though he’s been doing his thing since 2010. As Riber Tiber, the 22-year-old channels Sade-like soul with a beatmaker’s touch, cooing wistful beauty over crunchy rhythms and lush atmosphere. On his gorgeous Synapses standout “The City,” our host lends his delicate quaver to sing, “We could have had it all.” In the corresponding video, we find Paxton-Beesley alone at night in a mystical version of his hometown. He’s washed in a rainbow spray of lights in one scene, and levitates on a soccer field in the next. Meanwhile, the skyline is caught from strange angels, and portions of buildings break off to become triangular prisms. “Thought you would be here,” he says but instead, all of that strange romance is his to experience without accompaniment. Impressively, River Tiber created the clip as well as the song. Synapses is due this fall.
River Tiber Brings Beatwise Quiet Storm to ‘The City’ Video
