Alter egos have been ever present as part of musicians’ identities and artistic expression. From Sgt. Pepper (The Beatles) to Slim Shady (Eminem), and Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie) to Buckshot la Funke (Cannonball Adderley), alter egos have provided some of the all time greats a way to explore new avenues with their music.
My Album of the Week is the first project from a relatively recently born alter ego, and certainly one of my favourite alter ego projects from the last few years: Supershy, also known as Tom Misch.
Tom Misch is a hugely popular and successful modern musician, with a number of brilliant albums, singles, and awards under his belt. He has countless collaborations with other adored musicians including Loyle Carner, De La Soul and Michael Kiwanuka. Normally, Misch sits in the modern UK jazz, neo-soul and funk scene – which is incredibly popular in the UK at the moment.
Another music scene thriving in the UK at present is electronic dance music. From day parties in the sun to strobe-lit raves: disco, house and electronica are huge. As it happens, this is also a genre which Tom Misch is fond of. Even before the Supershy project was born, he’s openly discussed and professed his admiration and love for dance music. Elements can definitely be heard in the music released under his own name, but it’s never at the absolute forefront, and I certainly wouldn’t classify any of his work as electronic dance music.
In 2023, Happy Music was released, the first album from the Supershy project. Despite being completely different from Misch’s usual output, it doesn’t sound at all like the product of an artist confused about who they want to be, or what they want their music to sound like.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Happy Music knows exactly what type of music it wants to be, just like Geography and What Kinda Music do. There are two key reasons for this, I think.
Firstly, Tom Misch is clearly a very talented songwriter, musician and producer. In Happy Music, the jazzy elements from his usual style are mostly stripped back and replaced with groovy, thumping house beats and funky disco bass lines. It’s remarkably cohesive, and Misch’s adoration for this genre is music is abundantly clear. All in all, it’s a great disco album, and the style doesn’t ever feel forced. It’s naturally fantastic.
Secondly, I think it helps to picture a scenario where Misch hadn’t released Happy Music as Supershy, instead choosing to release the project as a Tom Misch album. Whilst I’m sure I undoubtedly would have still loved the album, and praised Misch’s confidence in releasing something completely different, I don’t think it would have quite had the same impact. Although they are the same person, Tom Misch and Supershy are different musicians. Releasing a Supershy project as Tom Misch would have diminished the project as its own creative being. It would have been endlessly compared to the more popular music of Misch, and likely left fans and critics alike a little confused. The decision to use an alter ego separates Happy Music from Tom Misch’s music. It sets you up with no expectations of what it should or shouldn’t sound like. For many fans, this would sour their taste, especially if they were not a fan of electronic music.
Alongside the obvious difference in music style, alter egos allow artists to experiment with everything else that goes with the noise: the Supershy logo is retro inspired, stylised block letters; a bold, block orange colour palette dominates the album branding; and scrapbook-esque cut-and-pasted dancing limbs are the focal point of the cover. Of course, Misch could still have used this branding on a release under his own name, but associating it with a complete new project, identity and image gives it so much more style and substance.
Supershy’s Happy Music is the perfect demonstration of why alter egos are so important. It gives artists the chance to experiment, explore, and express themselves in a different creative direction, with lesser expectations and more freedom. It truly does brilliant albums justice, too, by giving them their own spotlight and space to shine.
Waxing Lyrical 