Independent pop singer-songwriter Tom Nethersole is taking listeners on a profound, personal journey with his latest single, Ardmona Rd.
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Released on March 20, country-pop Ardmona Rd tells the story of a first-love romance set in Tom’s home town, Shepparton, down the same road where the musician dreams of introducing his future partner to his loved ones.
“I grew up in Shepparton, and I wrote this song about bringing this future partner back home to meet my family,” Tom, 22, said.
“And it’s just about them slotting into my family ... just, I guess, seeing them fall in love with my family in the way that I’m falling in love with them.
“And I think that this song, especially for a lot of queer listeners, is not necessarily the beautiful, wistful, romantic and optimistic song that we always get to have.
“So, I think I wanted to have a song that didn’t focus on the queer struggles, and it (instead) focused on, I guess, the reward of all the years of repression or feeling like you didn’t have someone.
“That’s what this song is about, taking the person you love back to meet your family.
“I’m very grateful for growing up in the country, and I think that my experience growing up in the country has very much influenced the way that I go about the world, and has influenced the type of person that I’ve become.
“And I think it’s funny that, since moving to Melbourne, I’ve been writing so many songs about my home town.
“It feels like I’ve moved two hours away just to write songs about the place that I left.”
The song was written and produced in a collaborative session with emerging Australian artists RARIA and Jordie Tomas.
“Usually the songs that I write, I’ll write them by myself at the piano or produce them myself,” Tom said.
“My venture is at collaborating with other people, and I collaborated with Jordie Tomas and RARIA, who are up-and-coming Australian artists as well.
“We kind of met for the first time and it’s crazy that we just clicked so instantly.
“I think that the fact that these three strangers came into a room and wrote a song, and just let everything hang loose is kind of like a testament to the songs we created about slotting into a family ... it’s just meshing together so seamlessly.
“I felt so grateful to be opening up about my desire for this kind of romance, this kind of queer love, and for them to just immediately get it and add their own takes on it and just come together and create a song that felt warm, felt safe and felt just like a warm hug.”
And despite what many might interpret as a dedication to a specific person, Tom has clarified that Ardmona Rd isn’t meant to reflect anyone in particular.
“It’s actually not based on anyone,” he said.
“I think there were some speculations that it might have been about someone that I was secretly dating.
“But no, I think I see this song more as like a manifestation of my future, and taking my future partner home.
“This song was a manifestation of, hopefully, the partner that I have in the future, and about how I’ll feel about them.”
Looking ahead, Tom is already eagerly planning his upcoming releases for the year.
“After this song, I have quite a few releases planned; I feel like 2025 is going to be the biggest year of releases,” he said.
“While this song is very much like an upbeat love song, I’m excited to venture into a bit more of that indie-folk kind of acoustic sound, which blends itself to my roots in the country.
“We’re in the works of planning some shows, but right now, it’s all up in the air, and we’ll just have to keep an eye out for the next show.
“I really want to do a home-town gig soon, and I’m having some talks to do one either for this song, or for the next single.”
In the meantime, he is hopeful listeners enjoy their trip down Ardmona Rd.
“I would just (want my audience to) take away this sense of optimism and that sense of hope and love for the future,” Tom said.
“I think this song feels like the wind rushing through you as you’re driving through the countryside, and I think that is emulated in the visuals in the music video.
“But I think I just want listeners to feel safe and feel comforted.
“And I think this song feels so warm that I just want them to sit (with the feeling) I felt when I wrote it and started listening to the demos for the first time.”
To listen to Ardmona Rd, visit Spotify at tinyurl.com/3frfkuxr
To learn more about the Tom, visit the artist’s Instagram at instagram.com/tomnether/ and Facebook at facebook.com/TomNethersoleProductions