It’s been some time coming, but Austin Tofte finally has a new record to share, after two-plus years of intense work and exhaustive soul-searching partially undertaken amid the snows of a Minnesota winter. The digi-centric singer/songwriter, who popularly composes under the moniker Swimming With Dolphins, completed a debut full-length, Water Colours, in March 2011, and apparently spent much of his time dreaming up ways to take his exciting brand of contemporary synth-pop into even broader, grander directions. From its heartfelt lyrics to its vibrant sonic palette, Water Colours marks a creative milestone for Tofte, and is his richest, most organic work to date. With a host of collaborators, co-producers and instrumentalists all pitching in, the record bears an endearingly human quality that is all too often lacking within the genre. For Tofte, it’s the culmination of a very long two-plus years.
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Swimming With Dolphins began in 2008 when Tofte teamed with friend Adam Young on a side project to Young’s Owl City band (which Tofte was also playing in, before opting to make Dolphins his main focus). Owl City eventually dominated Young’s time, but Tofte continued, and in late 2008 SWD released a debut EP, Ambient Blue. In the ensuing years Tofte continued to write, tour and promote his music, while also seeking a record label, and in 2010 this groundwork bore fruit when respected imprint Tooth & Nail offered a contract. Tofte, a long-time fan of many T&N artists, was eager to sign, and set out to thereafter to finish conjuring up his debut. Spanning 10 tracks, Water Colours represents the two-plus years Tofte has spent writing since releasing Ambient Blue; the locations where it was written and/or recorded range from random places on the road, to urban Minneapolis, to the Minnesota countryside, chronicling multiple stages of Tofte’s personal life along the way.
