Anthonie Tonnon Unveils New Single & Video 'Executive Assistant'

"Be realistic, demand the impossible." Words of wisdom from Aotearoa musician and activist Anthonie Tonnon, as he paves the way towards his typically ambitious, multi-media Cinematographer tour. Winner of the Taite Music Prize for 2021's Leave Love Out of This, Tonnon breaks a three year drought between official releases with today's brand new single and video 'Executive Assistant', a glimpse of what we can look forward to in the near future.

Crystallising his love for electronic pop, those who've caught the Whanganui song crafter's dynamic live sets during recent years — utilising two Synthstrom Deluges on mobile stands with wheels — will be well prepped for the new tune's pulsing robo-rhythms and dreamy synthetic textures, co-produced with Jonathan Pearce (The Beths).

Directed by Daniel Alexander and incorporating imagery sourced from Archives New Zealand with new footage visually mixed by Erica Sklenars and Kristy Pearson, the official video for 'Executive Assistant' feels like a ghostly echo of 20th century aspirations — featuring videography by Theo Taylor, and made with support from NZ On Air.

Welcoming viewers with a majestic view of Whanganui's brutalist Terrace House (opened in 1981), you can experience both the original and Extended Mix versions of 'Executive Assistant' right now, before Tonnon returns to the stage for the Cinematographer tour — described by the artist as "part film, part francophile performance lecture, part disco club set"...

"The sound of Executive Assistant reaches back to my last years of high school, when pop music was improbably taken over by obscure DJs and veterans of French discotheques, armed with vocoders, CDJs and keyboards full of samples, mouthing choruses with an index finger in the air.

Combining live and chopped-up recordings of the band (David Flyger, Stuart Harwood, Brooke Singer and Samuel Taylor), acid basslines and four-to-the-floor rhythms, producer Jonathan Pearce and I mixed the song with Wellington electronic polymath Bevan Smith (Introverted Dancefloor, Glass Vaults). The song itself grew out of a fortuitous songwriting session in Whanganui with clarinetist Andy Horwood.

In the spirit of this new sound, we're releasing it in two versions:
• a 4:56 Single Edit
• a 7:04 dancefloor-optimised Extended Mix, which we're particularly proud of."

Anthonie Tonnon – Cinematographer Tour

Friday 9th October – Hollywood Avondale, Auckland
Friday 23rd October – Royal Opera House, Whanganui (Festival of Design Aotearoa)
Friday 30th October – Papa Hou, Christchurch
Saturday 31st October – Hannah Playhouse, Wellington
Wednesday 4th November – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Saturday 7th November – Theatreship, London

Tickets are on sale via anthonietonnon.com

'Executive Assistant' is out today on major streaming platforms via Slow Time Records.