TIBERIUS B Signs to MARK RONSON's Zelig Records & Shares New Video "No Smoke"

SIGNS TO MARK RONSON’S ZELIG RECORDS  SHARES NEW VIDEO FOR “NO SMOKE”  STAINS EP COMING THIS SPRING

Credit: Dexter Lander

In the spring of 2020, singer, songwriter and producer Tiberius b was in London, experiencing the first wave of the COVID pandemic. During the lockdown, they were asked by their uncle to care for their grandmother, Tommy in a small village in North Wales. Partway through the stay, Tommy was hospitalized leaving Tiberius b alone in her house for six weeks.  It was during that time of extreme isolation they were able to explore their understanding of humanity and identity. The shift to a complete lack of responsibility caused by having no day job to attend or people to care for, paired with having no true autonomy due to the pandemic caused them to liken this period of time to a second puberty, or queer pupation. This led them to record their debut EP which will be released in the coming months on Mark Ronson’s label, Zelig Records (home to King Princess). The EP effortlessly guides listeners through breakups, sexual awakenings, gender euphoria, isolation, psychedelic divinations and moments of complete exasperation.   Lacking their usual set-up, a local villager lent the electric guitar, and they went about relearning old synth songs on it, accompanied by logic preset beats. Pent up feelings and power chords combined, drawing Tiberius towards a new sound animated by the throws of isolation-cultivated adolescent angst. To coincide with the new label home Tiberius b has released a new version of gorgeous and reflective “No Smoke”. The song released today was completely re-recorded and they also made a spellbinding new video.

On the track, Tiberius b notes: “When I was a kid my dad told me that a bike represented freedom. He was a passionate cyclist, and I grew a similar affinity to cycling as I grew up. In 2016 I got run over by a van on my way to work and was hospitalized, I got 17 stitches in my leg. That instance ended up changing the course of my life, as the settlement I received gave me the means to travel and subsequently move to london. I have never been afraid of biking since my accident, and often dance on my bike on my way home at night when the roads are clear. I told my cousin Lydia about this music video idea and she choreographed the dance for me. The video mirrors the song being vulnerable, but lucid and emboldened at the same time.” BIO Original, unfiltered and radiating tenacity, Tiberius b is a singer and producer adept at both emboldening audiences and offering them catharsis through diaristic songwriting.  Raised in the woods on a remote island in Western Canada, Tiberius' take on pop music is as raw and electrifying as these early surroundings. After relocating to their birthplace of London, England in 2017, they traded the synths for a borrowed B.C. Rich Warlock guitar and swaggering downtempo beats, calling on influences from their parent's CD collection like Portishead, Massive Attack and Blur for debut EP Stains.  In early 2020, while society spiraled out thanks to the newly-proclaimed global pandemic, Tiberius got a call from their uncle asking them to take care of their elderly grandmother in the remote Welsh countryside. Eventually, when she was moved to hospital, they found themselves alone in her house for six long weeks, during which the EP came to be.  Grounded by Tiberius' years of songwriting experience, Stains effortlessly guides listeners through breakups, sexual awakenings, gender euphoria, isolation, psychedelic divinations and moments of complete exasperation.   "Big Deal" shakes off the debris of past heartbreaks, charging towards new loves with a sanguine stomp. Effusing the same unfuckwithable boldness as Tiberius’ lyrics, punch-drunk drums strut through an achingly sentimental guitar melody, solidifying the song’s joyful defiance. The EP’s title track "Stains" on the other hand doesn’t sugarcoat their anger. Coming to a slow boil, the former reckons with the soft torture of watching an ex float through the world while you’re stuck languishing in their mess, complete with a shouty atonal breakdown reminiscent of Fiona Apple.  Peppered with exasperated UGH!!!s "Steps" rolls its eyes at the past with shady quips and heavy fed-up strumming. “I dropped acid on my own / crawled up the river on all fours / laughing maniacally HAHA / no no I’m not going crazy,” they shout, catapulting themselves towards the wide world beyond grief with every forceful word. "Tears Into The Sun" looks at the bigger picture, reckoning with the loss of friends and family members, and wondering how their community can endure an increasingly inhospitable world. “If all of us who struggle to withstand the structure survive, then what will we live off of?” they sing, for all those trekking through life in the brambles outside of its government-advised trails. A release rich with playful explorations of pop structures the EP jumps between moments of hopefulness and weltschmerz, offering fresh perspectives on the peaks and valleys of coming into oneself.

Tracklisting 1. No Smoke 2. Big Deal 3. Steps 4. Stains 5. Green Heart 6. Tears into the Sun  Follow Tiberius b: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Youtube