UK artist-to-watch TEE explores and expresses the rawest parts of the human experience through his soul-stirring art. In our interview, he discusses his seductive, smoldering new single “getaway” – a sonic and emotional fever dream reckoning with the choice to stay in or leave a toxic relationship.
Stream: “getaway” – TEE
It’s hard to see through the stains, like an old church it’s crumbling, for what it’s worth, it’s so worth it, it’s troubling…
To experience TEE’s music is to feel the rawest parts of the human experience expressed through song.
“When I listen to my own music it is like a time capsule for me of emotion,” he says.
A poet first and always, the Liverpudlian born Terell Farrell has, for the better part of the past decade, been one of the UK’s best-kept secrets. Since 2016 he’s been an active producer, arranger, programmer, and bass player working with established and up-and-coming artists throughout the music scene, including Little Simz, Ghetts, Cleo Sol, and N-Dubz. In 2021 he grabbed hold of the mic and stepped into the spotlight, formally introducing himself and his vulnerable, visceral words through beautiful raps full of breathtaking passion.
A two-year silence was finally broken last year with the five-track LOOP, a dark, achingly intimate story of love cycles, dating loops, and life’s little moments of meaningful connection, expressed through both music and cinematic accompanying visuals. Despite its short runtime – the entire project clocks in at under nine minutes – LOOP remains an unabridged look at TEE’s uniquely raw, humanity-fueled artistry.
And, as we now know, it served as a powerful precursor – the foundational bedrock – for all that’s to come.
“Before, I often felt pressured by expectations like radio success or high engagement, but creating LOOP allowed me to focus on pure creativity, both musically and visually,” TEE tells Atwood Magazine. “The response has been positive, and I believe its success lies in its ability to easily captivate listeners. It’s a project that invites people to connect with it effortlessly and see themselves in the music.”
The freedoms he enjoyed while creating LOOP inspired TEE to take even more creative control over his output, and this year will see the release of his entirely self-produced debut full length project. Released February 23 via TLD Records, “getaway” is the impassioned lead single from that record – a seductive, soul-stirring song driven by propulsive, effected guitar licks and loops, churning, cinematic drum fills, and at the center of it all, TEE’s emotionally charged voice.
Don’t you think it’s kinda strange
You were the first
I would’ve gave my last name
Looking for who to blame, blame
Bitter is all that I can taste, taste
This way or that a way
Caught you in MIA
said all that I could say
That I could
don’t you think it’s kinda strange
still can’t seem to getaway…
“I just wanted to push the boat out with this song,” TEE says of his new track. “Find sounds from both instruments and from my own voice that I haven’t really explored up until this point. Find a way to create an atmosphere that would entice people… I wanted to come back with a sound and an energy that really felt like the next chapter as me as an artist.”
Listen closely to “getaway” and you’ll hear the pitter-patter of detuned guitars, among other artistic nuances and production decisions that make up TEE’s multi-colored musical tapestry. Still, the true star of the show is his voice, which shines throughout moments of a smooth, candid rapping and spine-chilling, up-close and personal spoken word. A mélange of moving metaphors, clever wordplay, and well-executed rhyme, TEE’s delivery is impeccable and his flow is effortless – inspired in large part by the poets he’s always looked up to – who “wrote poetry like a conversation.”
hold your ground
before it swallows you whole
or is that the guilt from inside
pick your way to go
pick your path to hold
i don’t claim to see all
but we been here before
still we knock on fates door
like this time will be different
it’s not like last
but we said that the last
does the cycle ever finish
someone break the chains
but we won’t say who did it
then it’ll reappear
like who invited
houdini for dinner
i’m fully feeding the sinner
that’s when I’m pointing the finger
or is that my hand on the trigger
all the reasons I give us
it’s not the playing, but game that will kill us
That’s ’cause Russian roulette has no victors
but when she holds my face
I can’t help but hold hers
on paper we don’t work
you’ll have to make me fold first
it’s hard to see through the stains
like an old church it’s
crumbling, for what it’s worth
it’s so worth it, it’s troubling
“I started as a poet. I don’t ever want to lose that,” he explains. “This whole journey of music is me finding my sound, so every time I write, those are my building blocks, my north stars so to speak. However musically, there are no constraints, and I think that is important to me. As long as it feels, that’s what I will use.”
I feel things. I am human and that’s the basis of everything. Everything I write, I have either seen or felt, it has invoked an emotion.
A sonic and emotional fever dream, “getaway” aches with smoldering sounds and heated, turbulent feelings as TEE reckons with the desire to leave a relationship and the gravitational pull to stay in it. The choice is itself the cause of tremendous inner conflict, and TEE uses these four minutes to unpack his situation and process what he can or can’t, should or shouldn’t do.
Don’t you think it’s kinda strange
You were the first I would’ve gave my last name
Looking for who to blame, blame
Bitter is all that I can taste, taste
This way or that a way
Caught you in MIA
said all that I could say, that I could
don’t you think it’s kinda strange,
just a little bit strange
still can’t seem to getaway…
“To me, ‘escape’ feels like you have to leave, ‘getaway’ feels like you should. It is that nuance that I wanted to write about,” he shares. “Understand that it is a mess of emotion, logic, confusion, thoughts, actions, etc. There is no right or wrong answer, all I know is that I can’t seem to getaway.”
“I was not creating this as some sort of resolution, or conclusion that now I know the answer,” he adds. “This song for me was more that I had to get every thought out. Get every puzzle piece of out the box, before I begin to try and put the pieces together.”
Yeah toxic, so don’t touch it
but it’s so pretty I can’t help it
it attracts me like I’m helpless
can’t explain what it’s like
i just felt it, from the first kiss
its never faded I’m afraid it’s
got a chokehold on my whole soul
if I’m honest
Devil in both ears like a stereo image
but the way the blue dress fits seems so fitting
i know that it will carry us home
“getaway” is a stunning means of reentry into TEE’s world, and one that reaffirms him as one of the year’s undeniable artists to watch.
Stay tuned for more to come from the talented musical multi-hyphenate over the months to come, and catch up with TEE in our interview below as we dive deeper into the music and lyrics “getaway” and talk about what this year has in store for him!
make no mistake
there’s only one way this can go
but if you hold i’ll promise to hold
and we can cest la vie
until the white flag is flown
so come with me to the deep end
’til times up, on us we can depend
every start has a the end
it’s not a case of how just when
but then like last time
I’ll wait ’til next time
and we can do this all over again
I like that each song is born out of a specific moment, or person. So when I listen to my own music it is like a time capsule for me of emotion.
— —
:: stream/purchase getaway here ::
:: connect with TEE here ::
Stream: “getaway” – TEE
CATCHING UP WITH TEE
Atwood Magazine: TEE, thanks for your time! For starters, if someone is discovering you for the very first time today, what do you want them to know about who TEE is?
TEE: Thank you for having me. What I would want them to know about me, and something that I hope they can relate to, is that I feel things, I am human and that’s the basis of everything. Everything I write, I have either seen or felt, it has invoked an emotion. I am a musician that is making music in the hope that I can invoke the same or similar emotion.
It’s only been a few months since LOOP’s release late last year. What’s the reaction to that EP been like so far, and what was the experience of putting those tracks out like for you?
TEE: Releasing LOOP a few months ago was a great experience for me. Before, I often felt pressured by expectations like radio success or high engagement, but creating LOOP allowed me to focus on pure creativity, both musically and visually. The response has been positive, and I believe its success lies in its ability to easily captivate listeners. It’s a project that invites people to connect with it effortlessly and see themselves in the music.
That record told such an intense story; do you feel like it resolved itself, at least for you, by writing, recording, and putting out that last record? Or do the emotions from LOOP still linger?
TEE: I don’t really think there is a resolution. For me I think acknowledging that it is a cycle is what gives me some sort of peace. Even when you get out of it, find someone to settle down with or decide not to date, it is not because it has resolved. I can almost compare it to something like a skating rink: You can decide when to enter, you can decide when to leave, but you can’t stop the flow, and it will continue to loop whether you are in or not.
I will always feel those things I went through; they are part of building my character, part of my experiences, they helped me learn more about who I am, and that’s all good with me.
How is the music you’re making now different compared to LOOP and A Dozen Roses…?
TEE: Growth. As a human, as an artist, as a producer.
Your new song is absolutely soul-stirring. What drove you to release “getaway” first as the introduction to this new record, and what does this song mean to you?
TEE: I just wanted to push the boat out with this song. Find sounds from both instruments and from my own voice that I haven’t really explored up until this point. Find a way to create an atmosphere that would entice people. Aside from the message, which we will get into, I wanted to come back with a sound and an energy that really felt like the next chapter as me as an artist.
I wanted to come back with a sound and an energy that really felt like the next chapter as me as an artist.
What does the term “getaway” mean, for you in the context of this song? What are you to trying to escape to and from?
TEE: To try and get away from something seems to me like more of a choice. To me, “escape” feels like you have to leave, “getaway” feels like you should. It is that nuance that I wanted to write about.
“We shouldn’t do this forever, because we aren’t compatible. But in this particular moment, it feels so good, so maybe I should stay? But we are just going to hurt each other later down the line, so I should go.”
“Hold your ground before it swallows your whole.” I absolutely love how candid, unflinching, and conversational this track is. What do you look for in the music you make? What are your “north stars”?
TEE: I started as a poet. I don’t ever want to lose that. The poets that I loved wrote poetry like a conversation; it doesn’t sound like it, but it is littered with metaphors, wordplay, and rhyme. This whole journey of music is me finding my sound, so every time I write, those are my building blocks, my north stars so to speak. However musically, there are no constraints, and I think that is important to me. As long as it feels, that’s what I will use.
hold your ground
before it swallows you whole
or is that the guilt from inside
pick your way to go
pick your path to hold
I don’t claim to see all
but we been here before
still we knock on fate’s door
like this time will be different
it’s not like last
but we said that the last
does the cycle ever finish?
someone break the chains
but we won’t say who did it
then it’ll reappear
like who invited
houdini for dinner
The final minute of this track is probably my favorite. “But if you hold, I’ll promise to hold… So come with me to the deep end… it’s not a case of how, just when, but then like last time, I’ll wait 'til next time we’ll do this all over again…” It’s absolutely entrancing, and that’s kind of thought provoking, emotive, fast paced delivery is one of the reasons I became such a fan of yours in the first place. Take me back to this track’s creation: What were your emotions like while writing this song? What were you hoping to convey through your words? Through your performance?
TEE: This specific point that you reach when you’ve had all these thoughts and are now just trying to figure out the answer. Understand that it is a mess of emotion, logic, confusion, thoughts, actions, etc. There is no right or wrong answer, all I know is that I can’t seem to getaway. I was not creating this as some sort of resolution, or conclusion that now I know the answer. This song for me was more that I had to get every thought out. Get every puzzle piece of out the box, before I begin to try and put the pieces together.
make no mistake
there’s only one way this can go
but if you hold i’ll promise to hold
and we can cest la vie
until the white flag is flown
so come with me to the deep end
til time’s up, on us we can depend
every start has a “the end”
it’s not a case of how just when
but then, like last time
i’ll wait ’til next time
and we can do this all over again
What is something that would surprise listeners of your music to learn about you? In other words, what is one of your “fun facts”?
TEE: I was born with 11 fingers, they did cut it off when I was like 2 days old. Which now looking back, because I play piano, I wish I would have kept it. But that is my fun fact. [laughs]
What do you like most about your own music? In other words, what do you look for in your own art?
TEE: I like that each song is born out of a specific moment, or person. So when I listen to my own music it is like a time capsule for me of emotion.
What do you hope folks take away from “getaway,” and what have you taken away from creating it and now putting it out?
TEE: I hope that it has repeat value. Like I said before, I really like to litter my words with metaphors and wordplay so I really want people to take it in, both lyrically and musically, and pick out some words that mean something to them. For me it’s expression – it’s another nod of approval to myself to believe in the music that I want to create, no matter how alternative, or simple, as long as it is born out of emotion, then create.
What are some reasons people should be hyped for your upcoming music? What’s got you most excited to be putting out more stuff in 2024?
TEE: I have really dug deep for this next batch of music. It is hands down the best music I have ever created. In the same breath I can also say that this also feels like the start of a journey. Both of those things for me make it super exciting.
In the interest of paying it forward, who are you listening to these days that you would recommend to our readers?
TEE: YES. Cari, she is one of the best alt-rnb to come out of the UK ever. Koj, I have been working with him and the stuff he has coming in insane. Rosita, Khalil Madovi, tendai, Michael Aldag, I could go on all day, but yeah, those are a few that I am really enjoying at the moment.
— —
:: stream/purchase getaway here ::
:: connect with TEE here ::
Stream: “getaway” – TEE
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