Thunderbolt (feat. Tedashii)

Before kicking off his solo career with 2017's Babel, Sam Tinnesz cut his teeth as a Nashville-based songwriter, contributing music to Grammy-winning albums, international movie trailers, major-label recording artists and TV shows. Along the way, he helped build the pop music community in an otherwise country-dominated town, working with bands and producers who, like him, were eager to expand Nashville's creative limits. Several of those producers make appearances on Babel, a debut LP whose seven-song track list features dark, driving production from heavy hitters like Jeremy Lutito, Josh Hawkins, Robert Marvin and Matthew Bronleewe. Inspired by the ups and downs of a long-term relationship, Babel tackles topics like love, adversity and the ongoing battle between good and evil. The lyrics are weighty and personal, but the music itself is larger-than-life, full of cinematic pop anthems like "Sound Off the Sirens" and battle cries like "Fight On." Together, Babel offers up a big, booming sound, full of electronic programming, organic instruments, synthesizers, contemporary melodies and plenty of personal history. Listening closely, it's easy to hear influences from all parts of Tinnesz's career: the silver-screen swoon of his film scoring; the sharp hooks of his pop songwriting, which helped earlier songs like "Hold On For Your Life" become a viral hit on Spotify; the lyrics of a road warrior who's already spent years traveling across America, picking up new stories with each tour stop; and the seasoned confidence of a musician who's been kicking around Nashville's recording studios and writing rooms since the turn of the century, penning music for the movie trailers for blockbusters like Spiderman Homecoming, The Walking Dead, and Hunger Games along the way. Babel may be the first album he's released under his own name, but he's no newcomer. He's a lifer — an acclaimed singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who, after still exploring new territory, more than a dozen years into his career. "Through writing with other artists, I discovered my own sound," says Tinnesz, who recently teamed up with Paramore's former guitarist, Josh Farro, to produce and write songs for Tinnesz's indie pop band, Wave & Rome. Two years after releasing that band's debut EP, he turns over a new leaf with Babel, an album that marks his official transition into the role of a solo performer. He hasn't turned his back on the other facets of his career — "I'm no longer hiding behind a pseudonym," he adds. "This feels like the biggest step toward being a true artist, where you're no longer hiding behind anything." Moving, melodic and thoroughly modern, Babel introduces an artist who's been evolving for years, steadily sharpening his aggressive pop sound.

Tedashii Lavoy Anderson (born March 8, 1977), known simply as Tedashii, is an American Christian hip hop artist and member of the hip-hop troupe, 116 Clique. He also hosted the NGEN Radio show "Serium". Tedashii has released four solo albums, Kingdom People, Identity Crisis, Blacklight and Below Paradise, on Reach Records. Tedashii's delivery style is characterized by a deep voice that he can manipulate for rapping a wide range of flow schemes and patterns. In 2008, Tedashii toured with the 116 Clique during the "Unashamed Tour".