Today, the Los Angeles singer, songwriter, and producer Tony DV, aka Tony Davia, announces his new album Pig, due November 18. Tony has dedicated recent years to facilitating others’ visions (Georgia Gets By’s recent LP, Lean Into the Hill, Laura Elliott, WHATMORE’s Yoshi T and Jackson August, and the Frank Ocean co-signed Simpson), but with the announcement today, he divulges his truest work with double singles “Oh My Love” and “Bluesy Number,” along with a moody video for “Bluesy Number.” Listen to both singles here, and preorder Pig here. 

Tony DV draws out genuine pathos and carves out ebbs of unexpected empathy — hitting on a sound that attains an ornate bigness and distinct character without any sense of overwrought contrivance. His music is lived-in, direct, and textured with compositional intrigue and philosophical heft, often suggesting Damon Albarn in melancholy balladeer mode; at other times, he’s more Bob Dylan-esque. Moody and melodic, his economical folk-rock melodies a la Andy Shauf or the glistening melancholia of Travis imbibe a joyful exhortation to growing up while still extending love to the kid-like, naive side of oneself and others, while suggesting a very grown-up sense of self.  

Continuing Davia’s streak of provocative album titles, Pig recalls the animalistic side of human impulses. Davia exposes the unfiltered parts of himself, like greed and rage, no longer trying to fit others’ demands but rather finding a path to enlightenment following a tumultuous moment. Even as he reveals the cracks in his façade, Davia turns these negative thoughts into something beautiful and relatable, encouraging listeners to find solace in his own discomfort. 

Of “Oh My Love,” Tony says, “There are two phases of life: Before and after losing someone you love. This song is a prayer to the Universe. Simple song. Let me keep my love for the rest of my days on Earth, please.” On “Bluesy Number,” he goes on, “I’m first generation Iranian-American, which feels more than ever like an oxymoron. I get more into this on the album, but this song touches on the desire to hide/escape in the face of challenges to my spirit. It’s written as trying to explain to a future relative what it felt like to be in this weird pivot generation, where I’ve sort of lost the right to identify with my own culture.” 
 

Watch the official video for “Bluesy Number” here
 

On his debut album from last year I know trash people who keep the oceans clean, co-produced by Tony DV and Simon Gooding (Fazerdaze, Balu Brigada), Tony DV harnessed seam-splitting idiosyncrasies through analog sonics. The single “Personal Satellite” has reached over 100k listens on Spotify alone, and is still growing. Watch the FLOOD Neighborhoods session, set to the backdrop of the LA River. As Atwood Magazine put it, however, Tony DV arrived as “an artist who already feels fully formed” upon his debut.

Across the forthcoming record, Tony DV further employs his genre-agnosticism as he lets his emotions shape his intricate sonic landscapes, viscerally bringing forth the anxiety and uncertainty that centers the record. From swirling guitars and piano to the hypnotic, melancholic strums, he evokes the atmospheric sounds of Bends-era Radiohead and the spirited hooks of early Coldplay, while still allowing the sunny climate of his home state to seep through. 

Single and opening track “Agatha,” about refusing to give in to romantic expectations, sparked the direction for Pig: Davia realized he needed to let go of his perfectionism and embrace the messiness of the present for his second solo LP. 

With a newfound approach to his artistry and a more mature, fully embodied version of himself seeping through his songwriting, Pig is a thrilling look at where Davia is headed as Tony DV, where the risk of exposing yourself when you have nothing to lose becomes most rewarding.