As Thomston, New Zealander Thomas Stoneman makes yearning alternative pop tinged with elements of electronica, R&B, and hip-hop. He released his first EP, the home-recorded School Night, in 2014, and signed with Sony for his debut album, Topograph, issued in 2016. Following the companion EPs En-Route: Los Angeles and En-Route: London, he released the 2020 song “April” as the first track off his sophomore full-length.
Stoneman was born in London, England in 1995, though his family relocated to Titirangi in suburban Auckland, New Zealand when he was still an infant. He began classical piano lessons at the age of five. By high school, he was writing songs and entering music competitions, which led to a management deal while he was still a teenager. Using the portmanteau Thomston, he released his home-recorded debut EP, School Night, in early 2014. He followed it up that June with the Argonaut EP, which included production help from Joel Little (Lorde, Broods) and Josh Fountain (Leisure). The four-track Backbone EP arrived less than a year later, in April 2015.
In early 2016, Thomston released the single “Window Seat” featuring Australian EDM artist Wafia, and a few months later, he was the support act on an arena tour with Broods. Thomston made his Sony debut in September 2016 with Topograph, his first full-length release. He returned in 2019 with two EPs, the vibrant En-Route: Los Angeles and the moodier En-Route: London. A single, “April,” arrived in June 2020 as the first song off his sophomore full-length. ~ Marcy Donelson