Tommy Lefroy on Exploring Existentialism Through Music

INTERVIEW

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INTERVIEW ✦

Tommy Lefroy, the dynamic duo consisting of Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis, has quickly established themselves as a musical powerhouse with a deep, enduring connection. Known for their ability to write, record, and produce their entire output, they have captivated audiences across the UK, Europe, and North America with their electrifying performances and craft.

Photography: Sophie Scott

The duo's name, inspired by Jane Austen’s real-life Mr. Darcy, Thomas Langlois Lefroy, reflects their literary bond and lyrical precision — with a mission to subvert the ‘broken woman’ trope and become heroic leads in their own right. This creative vision is prominently conveyed in their music, which blends hazy instrumentals and seasoned sounds to forge their own ethereal style.

Tommy Lefroy's latest body of work, the EP born blue, is set for release on October 25th, following their headline tour of the UK and Europe. The title track, "You Exist," embodies the kinship they find in each other and others who tend toward being blue, highlighting the intricate balance of sadness and beauty. Recent releases from the EP, including "Garden" and "Girlhood, Godhood," showcase their creative range, while the latest track, "Let Me," explores themes of release and closure.

Photography: Sophie Scott

Now, while traveling from show to show, the duo is opening up about the new EP, their current tour, and much more.

Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind the meaning or idea behind your new EP, born blue? 

Tessa Mouzourakis: The title for born blue comes from the chorus of the song “You Exist” - we’re born blue / got used to it / till you came to keep me alive. Being born blue, in some sense, is about feeling inextricably sad all the time, and the music deals with some reconciliation of that. It’s also about yearning, about wanting and chasing and gunning for it, sometimes falling short of it. 

Wynter Bethel: It’s a state we find ourselves often returning to, being blue, and so much of the record is exploring that space, making peace with it, learning to reason with it. 

How did the creative process for born blue differ from some of your previous works?

Tessa Mouzourakis: In some ways, this EP saw a return to the way we started, alone in our bedrooms, producing everything ourselves. We’ve grown so much since Flight Risk, and the nature of the songwriting has definitely matured. 

Wynter Bethel: We were able to work on a lot of born blue in a friend’s studio in London, and it was one of the first times we had a consistent place to work from. Our friend, Jos Kuhn, tracked live drums on the EP, from Nashville. 

Tessa Mouzourakis: He added so much life and grit to the record which was exciting. 

What themes or messages do you hope listeners take away from the tracks on born blue?

Tessa Mouzourakis: Looking at the EP as a whole, there are certainly prevailing themes of sadness, and yearning, general existentialism but, in writing these songs, we were also thinking about what keeps us alive, what pulls us out and onto the other side, and what it feels like to finally resurface after a hard or dark season.

 “Let Me” is described as a note to self about holding on to too much for too long. Can you elaborate on the personal experiences that influenced this song?

Wynter Bethel: A lot of this song started as a very long stream of consciousness piano ballad that I recorded one night while visiting my parents in Michigan last summer. It was a rambling release of so many things I’d been holding on to (and weighed down by) for the past few years, so it’s not just about one thing or relationship. I was in my hometown, spending time with people who I grew up with and love dearly, and I think that always leads you back to yourself. I realized how much I hadn’t been processing, and the idea for the chorus melody just happened. It’s like a proclamation of wanting to heal, wanting to be free. 

Tessa Mouzourakis: There’s this David Foster Wallace quote — ‘everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks in it.’ That’s a bit what “Let Me” feels like. 

Your music often blends sadness with beauty. How do you tend to balance these emotions in your songwriting?

Tessa Mouzourakis: Our songs are never about just one thing. Oftentimes, we find it pretty difficult to answer point blank what a song is about, because they feel so multi-faceted. The human experience is so rife with a complicated mix of feelings and experiences, sadness and beauty, etc. We try to acknowledge that in our writing, to allow for the complicated, to let a song be about so many different things at once. 

Wynter Bethel: Totally. Beauty and sadness are often intertwined in our experience. And there is always so much nuance to a situation, even more than we could ever understand or explain of course. So we try to allow space for that in the writing, which helps us process our experience as well.

You’ve mentioned that your band name, Tommy Lefroy, is inspired by Jane Austen’s real-life Mr. Darcy. In what ways does literature influence your music and lyrics?

Tessa Mouzourakis: We’re always taking notes from what we’re reading, drawing inspiration, referencing themes or symbols we feel drawn to. Sometimes it’s a direct quote - like in “Slick” we borrowed the famous line “let me rage before I die” from the Aeneid — we were reading a lot about ancient hero myths at the time. Or it’s more a general theme or thesis we were mulling over. 

Wynter Bethel: On born blue, we were heavily influenced by Anne Carson’s work Eros the Bittersweet, especially when we were writing the song “Garden.” We were thinking a lot about desire, the feeling of constantly reaching or running toward something, but not yet arrived. 

In regards to literature, can you share more about the origin of your book club, Some Vague Hope, and how it connects with your fans?

Tessa Mouzourakis: The book club came out of our conversations with fans, trading book recommendations online or at shows, and wanting to cultivate a space where we could read and discuss together. We host book swaps at all our headline shows, so the Some Vague Hope library club also feels like an extension of this. It’s a really great way to build community. 

Wynter Bethel: We’ve been busy in EP and touring mode, but we hope to get back into the book club this fall. It has been such a joy to stay in touch with people we meet on the road through conversations about what we’re reading. 

In closing, what surprises can fans expect from your shows? 

Wynter Bethel: We just wrapped the UK/EU leg of our born blue tour, and it was such a joy to meet so many new people at the shows. We feel very fortunate to have such wonderful crowds, and a lot of the shows just feel like hanging out with friends. We’re gearing up for some North American dates now that we’re very excited for. They’re intimate rooms, so we’re going to take more time than we have before to talk about what inspired the songs, and maybe tell a few stories from the road. Stay tuned on our socials, we’ll be posting some polls to see what songs people want to hear about.