First release from London-based, Brisbane raised maverick singer-songwriter MF Tomlinson since his remarkable self-produced album trilogy.  Heaven Is Other People celebrates MF’s entry to parenthood with five ‘lo-fi gestural pieces on the human condition’.

GESTURAL PIECES

This is the first sign of life that we’ve seen from London-based, Brisbane-raised maverick singer/songwriter MF Tomlinson since his acclaimed album trilogy that concluded in 2025 with Die To Wake Up From A Dream.  There’s a good reason for that.  In the intervening months since that last album release, MF has become a father for the first time – and this new EP celebrates that change of status in a way that only MF Tomlinson could.

Written following the birth of his son and recorded during impromptu sessions at his studio in Poplar, East London, MF describes Heaven Is Other People as: “A collection of lo-fi gestural pieces on human condition.” 

Does that description mean anything to you?  Thought not.  Helpfully, MF Tomlinson elaborates: “Sometimes, the power of a song is to reach for meaning that words cannot access.  At other times, it’s a gift that lets you name something profound – so simply – That it feels effortless.  It’s too easy to forget in the cynicism of our day-to-day that it’s people who make our lives what they are, and people that we see in our dreams.”

LOST OFFSPRING

For Heaven Is Other People, MF has re-assembled the group of his regular collaborators that he likes to refer to as The MFs: Ed Grimshaw on drums, Ban Manning on bass, Gail tasker on flute and Kayvon Nabijou on keys and sax.  That’s an interesting combo – but just wait until you hear the sounds that, collectively, they produce…

Heaven Is Other People gets off to a slow, jazzy start as the title track gathers momentum.  Piano, strings, double bass, flute and soft drums provide the accompaniment to MF’s gritty, deep vocals.  Before long, the song has morphed into a gloriously slushy ballad – and MF rises to the occasion with true aplomb, leaving the listener to wonder whether they’ve just discovered a lost offspring of Lou Reed and Englebert Humperdink.

Robin’s Synth Improvisation takes its title from a performance by MF’s young son on a Korg Volca synthesizer.  It’s a hypnotic collage of sound – as you’d probably expect – and it becomes surprisingly engaging as it progresses.  The collage leads straight into Now I Am Free, the EP’s lead single.  Synth and guitar merge behind MF’s half-sung, half-spoken vocals, as he reflects upon the newfound peace and sense of perspective that parenthood has introduced to him.  It all amounts to an intriguing slice of psych/folk/pop.

LET THE SONG FOLLOW ITS INSTINCT

Speaking of the inspiration behind Now I Am Free, MF says: “My experience of becoming a parent has all been quite unexpected.  Having something so powerfully and wholly wonderful and good in my world that just blows all the fears that used to monopolise my time away.  I’ve got something better to live for now – now, I am free!”

MF has adapted the words to Michael – Minnesota Grandson, a poem written by his grandfather, into Rolling On Home, a bedtime story he reads to his new son.  Swirls of synth predominate in the soundscape that accompanies MF’s recitation of the adapted poem.

The piano intro that introduces Goodnight Noises Everywhere – the EP’s closing track – ight suggest that we’re in for a straight, schmaltzy ballad.  But, anyone who has listened so far to Heaven Is Other People will know better than that.  The piece is a fascinating exercise in psychedelic chamber pop, with electronic enhancement taking the piano and woodwind instruments to a strange, new place. Heaven Is Other People is a collection that takes mundane experiences and tunes and submits them to new, exciting, interpretations.  MF’s approach is to let each song follow it’s own instincts.  In his hands, it’s an approach that works well

Watch the official video to Heaven Is Other People below:

MF Tomlinson: Website

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