Alberta born, Toronto-based artist TOVI (aka Rebecca Emms) has released her latest electro indie single “Across the Border”. The track follows up her summer 2020 single “Ceiling,” a long-distance collaboration with Grammy-nominated Japanese artist starRo.
Hearing TOVI’s spectral vocals — coupled with dark synth notes and driving bass — conjure otherworldly visions of cruising through apocalyptic city streets looking for the last dance party. “Across the Border” would slip seamlessly into the synthwave epic of Mark Mothersbaugh’s Thor: Ragnarok score or the brooding sounds of Ryan Gosling’s Drive.
While “Across the Border” was a self-produced bedroom track made in the midst of isolation in TOVI’s hometown of Red Deer, Alberta, it escapes the folly of many COVID anthems.
“Across the Border” is haunting, personal, and full of escapism. It subtly captures those moments that we’ve all had in the middle of the night over this past year.
From the first listen, it was clear that “Across the Border” would be quickly added to 2020: A Mixtape, our playlist featuring some of Rocktographers’ favourite songs of the year.
“There was a lot on my mind when I wrote this song.” explains TOVI “I was in my home town Red Deer, Alberta for the first several months of the pandemic. I was feeling like I was hiding away from the high COVID-19 numbers of Toronto. The borders to the US had recently closed. Friends of mine were moving, changing their life paths. I wrote this song trying to distill these really intense fears for the future, which of course we were all feeling.
Part of me felt really hopeless and nihilistic, part of me felt like it was the time to really buckle down and get things down, drive forward.. I think both these sentiments come through on the track.
Throughout the pandemic, I found a lightness in listening to dance music. If anything, I wanted to make this song something that you could move to.”
Listen to TOVI’s latest single, “Across the Border,” below. The single is off her forthcoming EP due out in 2021.