Originating in a New York apartment and completed in a garage in suburban Sydney, Jonti’s new album Tokorats will see release November 3rd on Stones Throw Records. Following up from 2012 releases Twirligig and Sine & Moon, Tokorats is a psychedelic, harmony-rich dream-hop journey. Originally recorded as a sister record for Jonti’s debut album Twirligig in 2011, Jonti scrapped the entire album and started again in 2013. After four years and hundreds of versions for each song, Jonti is finally ready to invite you into his Tokorats universe.

Jonti explains, “A Tokorat is that supernatural creature in the mirror. A multicolored weirdo mutant composed of all the elements of your story and all the complexities of your character. In every song, I was having a conversation with all the good and unflattering reflections of myself — AKA my Tokorats. While this album does document a five-year spiritual journey, it was ultimately a fun and luscious experience. I’m lucky I got to know my Tokorats”

Jonti’s five-year journey included collaborations with, most recently, The Internet’s Steve Lacy on “Scrood”, Mark Ronson, BADBADNOTGOOD, King Krule, Earl Sweatshirt, and a 40-date world tour with Gotye. He also teamed up with fellow Australians The Avalanches as they made their long-awaited return on Wildflower, an album Jonti helped record and performs live with the group.

Bandcamp: https://jontidanilewitz.bandcamp.com/

Having grown up in South Africa, lived in Los Angeles and New York, Jonti settled in a beachside suburb in Sydney where Tokorats was completed with the help of Jonti’s friends. Helped along the way with various studio contributions from Australian artists Gotye, Kirin J Callinan, Bus vipers, Gauci and Mohi, Jonti called on Odd Future / MellowHype’s Hodgy and rising Australian hip-hop star Sampa The Great to contribute vocal features on “Animah” and “Island Rose” respectively.

The album’s lead cut “Sleeping And Falling” is a mixed bag of emotions that takes us on a musical journey that’s joyous and uplifting, yet juxtaposed with lyrics and a story bathed in nostalgia and heartache. Broad and deep strokes of pop melodies, stirring strings and cooing vocals recall the brighter notes left in the past.

“With this album my main goal was to stretch out,” says Jonti. “I wanted to make songs that flowed and went on magical journeys themselves. I wanted the songs to have clear intentions and stories. I wanted to open the world up sonically, I came across a group of musicians that were key to helping me find the wide and open sound I was searching for.”