tendai soars above heartache on “Time In Our Lives”

Eagle-eyed viewers of a recent BBC TV interview with Stormzy, hosted by documentarian and TikTok rapper Louis Theroux, may have noticed tendai make a brief cameo appearance. The 22-year-old London-born artist was among a group of artists and producers that Stormzy has assembled to work on his upcoming album, This Is What I Mean, with Theroux's cameras catching them together in the studio. It feels fitting that tendai was caught this way, as it feels like those paying real attention to what is going on have been the ones to witness his star slowly rising.

Over the past year he has released a steady stream of singles, “Not Around,” “Infinite Straight,” “Lately,” and “Pressure,” that are united not by genre but by feeling. tendai makes deeply sensitive music, as if he's performing direct from the emotions he is singing about.

Written after a break-up, on his new song "Time In Our Lives" tendai sings: "If I knew my heart was going to break I wouldn't love" as he rides out on the pain. There's a muted soul to the music that surrounds this outpouring, with heavy basslines and psychedlic flourishes lapping at the edges of the raw missive.

Each of tendai's previous singles has boasted a cinematic video, too, and "Time In Our Lives" is no different. Built around a live performance,the band's run through the song is captured via film, photography, sound, and memory. tendai wears a striking red robe, holding him close. The item has sentimental value being something his mother, a musician herself, wore while pregnant with him and his sister.

tendai spoke to The FADER about the emotions behind "Time In Our Lives," as well as his plans for the future, in a Q+A you can read below.

The FADER: What does "Time In Our Lives" mean to you and what were you feeling when you wrote it?

tendai: "Time In Our Lives" is a break up record in many ways. It's a song that represents an end of many types of relationships; romantic, platonic, and family. An ‘end of an era’ song. I was feeling many endings while writing this.

How does the video help tell the story of the song?

The video shows the process of capturing a moment, and trying your hardest to frame it in the best way. It's almost like thinking of a memory/moment in your life and telling it completely honestly. .
Your videos so far have all had a strong cinematic quality to them. What influence do you draw from film?

The cinematic artform is something i've always been drawn to. Films like Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas or justin kerrigans human Traffic have a certain devotion to framing. I love how the framing of shots can really impact how the scene affects you. So I definitely draw influence from filmmakers who are interested in framing. I'd love to be a director of photography one day.

And what role does London play in your music?

i think London is a melting pot of culture and identity. Every corner has a subculture, every subculture has individuals. I think London plays the role of inspiration; from how it looks visually to the people inside it.

Your parents are musicians, too. How do you feel being able to walk the same path?

I feel so honoured, and honestly sometimes quite scared. I think it can be daunting to take a journey that has almost already been laid out for you. Sometimes you can feel there is less freedom to fail. But i think in this time in my life it inspires me. It makes me feel surrounded and gives me a lot of confirmation of identity .

You have been slowly but surely releasing music this past year. What do you feel you have told the world about yourself with the tracks you have put out so far?

It's quite funny because I realised yesterday that i have been telling the story of my relationship with [ex-partner] Gianna . The songs I've released are mainly based around her, apart from ‘infinite straight’. So I think I've kinda started the story of my romance and will continue to tell it, with nuggets about me in there somewhere .

What does the future hold? Do you have plans in place for a larger body of work?

The future holds a lot more music, I think I have spent the last two years figuring out who I am and who I want to be. Now that I am a lot closer to that, the music is coming thick and fast. So yes, there will be an album.