Tommi Aura – Tainted Love single review
L.A.’s Tommi Aura amps up the glamor and sleaze on “Tainted Love”!
It seems like every generation gets its own “Tainted Love.” From the Tina Turner-esque original recorded by Gloria Jones in 1965 to the iconic nonstop eroticism of Soft Cell’s version to the doomy post-industrial dirge of Coil, “Tainted Love” never seems to lose its luster. Maybe it’s because its theme of obsession and romantic anxieties are always relevant. Maybe it’s the sadomasochistic allure, mixing pleasure and pain with abandon. Maybe it’s an acknowledgement of love’s vulnerability, taking on your lover’s aura like coffee stains on a white linen tablecloth. Maybe it’s just its sick, heavy strings, falling like hammers and obsession.
Whatever the reason, “Tainted Love” has become a popular showpiece for musicians looking to explore the shadowy side of love, sex, and romance. Somehow, Tommi Aura’s version manages to capture all of them while still managing to possess its own aura.
Aura’s cover of “Tainted Love” transforms the sleek, new wave synths and machine beats of Soft Cell’s iconic version into gnarly, grinding noisehop distortion and raging industrial beats. Musically, it’s as pummeling as early Nine Inch Nails. This doesn’t stop it from also sounding as chic and stylish as it needs to be, showing off Aura’s vocals to fabulous effect. It’s an even three way split between Soft Cell, Coil, and Gloria Jones – until it breaks down into a riotous acid meltdown in its final moments, becoming something entirely its own.
“Tainted Love” is another hard pivot from the mercurial, constantly shapeshifting Tommi Aura. Her last hit single, the fabulous “Girls Are Just Better,” was a stylish, streamlined downbeat pop banger while “lUcky girl Syndrome” blends poppy punk rock guitars, ’90s drum ‘n bass, and New Wave. You just never know what you’re going to get with a new Tommi Aura single, but it’ll be instantly recognizable as her. If there’s any better indication of a prodigious new rising talent, I don’t know what is!
“Tainted Love” is out now on We Are: The Guard.
Tommi Aura
