Tom Goss on his ninth studio album, Remember What It Feels Like
BY VICTOR MELAMED | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM
Tom Goss’ ninth studio album, Remember What It Feels Like, is a clear-eyed look at where he has come from and where he finds himself today: a 42-year-old living in Los Angeles who has lived and loved and lost—and who cherishes all of his memories, both sweet and bitter, as essential parts of his story and identity.
The album is an expansive 15-track collection of fast, fun, summery pop songs punctuated by beautiful ballads and raucous rock. Featured artists include comedian and musician Deven Green, hip hop diva Maya La Maya, wry chanteuse Anne Reburn, and Goss’s longtime collaborator de ROCHE.
The album drops July 7 and will be available on iTunes, Spotify, and all major digital platforms, along with its new single, “Enemy of Good.”
Goss will support the release of the album and single with a concert in Washington DC featuring de ROCHE and charting pop star Bright Light Bright Light, followed by shows in New York City, Provincetown, and other cities to be announced.
“The truth is, most things in life happen for no reason at all, and are completely out of our control,” says Goss. “The only thing we can control is how we feel in the moment. There will be sweet times and sad times, highs and lows; I embrace them all. I want to remember what every experience felt like, even those that weren’t pleasant, because ultimately, I am happy with who I am today. I’ve been shaped by every experience and so therefore, all of them have been good.”
“Forgiveness is easy. It’s understanding the ‘why?’ that’s hard. But I’m letting it go and focusing on the present, because the now is packed with goodness.”
Goss has been singing his truth for more than 15 years, creating a large and varied body of work (9 albums, 5 EPs, 39 music videos) that tracks his development both as a man and as an artist. He has transformed the facts of his life—a troubled teen and college wrestler; a student studying to become a priest; touring the country as a gay singer-songwriter; falling in love and getting married; the heartbreak of infidelity and the challenges of an open marriage; being conned by a lover with a secret life—into songs of remarkable range, strength, and beauty. His songs have been featured on ABC, HBO, Disney+, and in several films. His music videos (including “Son of a Preacher Man,” “Breath and Sound,” and “Bears”) have been viewed more than 18 million times.
In “Enemy of Good,” Goss sings about perfectionism, a vice that often masquerades as a virtue. “I’m very self-critical,” he admits. “Even as a kid, I would get frustrated when I felt I fell short on a goal, and my mother would say, ‘Tom, the perfect is the enemy of the good.’ It struck me as powerful, and I continue to notice that my need to achieve perfection does little in the way of producing art, or happiness. Joy and creativity flow when I allow myself to be flawed.”
The song is an uplifting pop track, as reflected in its music video. “The video’s co- director, Catalin Stelian-Shanks, and I said right from the beginning that we didn’t want to overthink the visuals. ‘Enemy of Good’ needed to exuberant and cheerful, like the song. Our goal was to make people smile, laugh, think, and bob their head along.”
The single and album are a departure from Goss’s previous work, the searingly honest Territories, whose dramatic singles and music videos (“La Bufadora,” “Berlin,” “Amsterdam,” and “Québec) captured his tumultuous few years dealing with infidelity, a newly open marriage, and falling in love with a charming Englishman who was not all who he appeared to be.
With Remember What It Feels Like, Tom Goss says he is at a place of reconciliation. “Forgiveness is easy,” he reflects. “It’s understanding the ‘why?’ that’s hard. But I’m letting it go and focusing on the present, because the now is packed with goodness.”
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