T.E.A. stands for Tunnelmetal Experimental Assembly — what Stephen Morris of the BBC calls “the biggest name in pop.”
Background
Although Morris means it quite literally, as T.E.A. contains twelve syllables, Tunnelmetal has had a long and successful history, spanning back to the mid-80s with founder Nigel Mitchell. Living through several iterations of the Tunnelmetal name and lineup, 2010 sparked a moment of opportunity and inspiration for Nigel to reinvigorate the project.
Enlisting friend and former bandmate Derek Pippert, the two aligned their visions and set to work on songwriting, and high quality production. What resulted can only be expressed as a fruitful blend of the spirit of punk activism with the sounds and pulse of electronic dance – “Punktronica”.
Working incredibly hard — to much acclaim — brings us to present day, with T.E.A. still hard at work preparing a new album, while simultaneously developing new visual elements for shows and festivals.
Thoughts
“Awake Me” is artistically fascinating. In what amounts to a very global story, and rightful mesh of blocky abstraction with modern edginess, the music itself is kept in focus. The spoken word found at the 2 min 30 sec mark is almost the climax of its artistic draw.
Mitchell’s 2010 vision of blending high quality production with great songwriting is readily apparent in “Awake Me”. Finding enlightenment in their neon-populated night club is made easy, as T.E.A.’s message is one of focus and impassioned direction.
Support
You can find Tunnel Experimental Assembly here:
