Renowned British artist Tom Walker surprised fans with a new EP over the weekend, which he recorded at his show at Brixton’s O2 Academy during his 2019 ‘What a Time To Be Alive’ tour. The EP is available exclusively on Amazon Music and includes a performance of Walker’s biggest song to date, ‘Leave a Light On’.
The artist hinted at the release last week, posting, “Yes guys, got something cooking from my live Brixton show on @AmazonMusicUK@AmazonMusic tomorrow. As we can’t get to gigs figured you guys will like this.” Sure enough, fans are loving the live recordings, especially of inspiring song ‘Not Giving In’, from debut album ‘What a Time To Be Alive’.
Live music performances have been few and far between since the Covid-19 pandemic made it difficult to ensure safety, so the sound of the crowd singing along to each song, as well as Walker’s emotional delivery, brings a different atmosphere from the studio recordings. Introducing his tracks, the singer gave a small speech about the idea behind each one; before ‘Leave a Light On’, he said, “Brixton, we love you,” bringing on a few screams from the audience. He went on to say, “I can’t tell you how emotional this is, it’s absolutely mental – thank you.”
Describing the song, he explained that it was written for one of his closest friends, “when he was going through a really tough time…mates don’t come around too often, especially the good ones and you’ve gotta look after them, for real.” Other songs included on the EP are ‘Just You and I’ and ‘Fly Away With Me’.
Throughout lockdown, Walker has been very active online, releasing a new single, ‘Wait For You’, and lifting his followers’ spirits with his humorous Tweets and livestreams, in which he performs cover songs such as Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’.
Walker graduated from the London College of Creative Media and went on to sign with Relentless Records, releasing his debut album in early 2019. The album reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, while his single ‘Leave a Light On’ reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
