Piri & Tommy Tickets

For all their throwbacks to the heyday of 90s raving, Piri & Tommy are very much at the frontline of contemporary pop. The (IRL) couple met via sliding into DMs, sent each other voice memos and their first single ‘soft spot’ soon amassed streams well into the millions. All of this is to say nothing of their ubiquity on TikTok.

The duo formed in 2021 when Piri, real name Sophie McBurnie, got in touch with Tommy Villiers after becoming a fan of his previous band Porij. Tommy’s other project brought a wide range of dance influences into a live band context, but Piri’s soft-edged and naturally melodic voice paired perfectly with the 90s classics: finger-waving garage and dreamy drum and bass. Those early enough to discover the fresh-faced pair may even have found a disco track, too. Moving in together at student digs in Manchester, Piri & Tommy collaborative journey began to fall into place. 

With cascading vocals, gently swelling synths and distant sounds of an actual jungle, the atmospheric debut single ‘soft spot’ was an instant hit, at once marking their place in public consciousness and opening a window into their own blooming romance. The track turned the heads from the likes of Charli XCX and PinkPantheress, who had helped pave the way for this new style of small-font, short track bedroom pop. A remix from UK Garage royalty MJ Cole cemented their street cred. 

The buzz went ‘on & on’, as their follow-up seemed to foresee, while ‘beachin’ neatly envisaged their talk-of-the-town appearance at The Great Escape 2022. Sweaty, high-octane and packed to the rafters, their festival showcase set their tone for every live Piri & Tommy performance thereafter, which sees Tommy on guitar while Piri commands swathes of outstretched arms and voices singing back at her. 

Released in October 2022, their 12-track mixtape froge.mp3 is admirably dynamic while keeping their ethereal sweetness and, more importantly, unadulterated fun constantly pumping. The likes of ‘words’ and ‘say it’ lean towards more contemporary influences like Disclosure and  Kaytranada, while ‘easy’ and ‘silver lining’ sound pulled straight from the 90s.