Something In The Water: Tom Grennan Interviewed

Footballer turned singer with a killer instinct...

If you tune into the Premier League this weekend, you might just hear the rusty but sharp vocals of Bedford singer Tom Grennan cutting through the coverage.

A promising young footballer just a few years back, Grennan could well have ended up featuring on Sky’s coverage himself had he not accidentally discovered the crowd-pleasing impact of his raw, untrained voice while singing along to The Kooks at a house party.

“It’s sick man!” he gushes in response to his songs’ regular rotation on the Premiership and Champions’ Leagues. “All these different sports people are loving my music, which is cool. If my feet can’t do it then my voice can.”

He might only have been writing music for a year since he discovered the effect of his voice on casual listeners, but in that time a series of prominent guest spots on releases from Chase And Status, Kojey Radical and Bugzy Malone have seen Grennan’s star rise sharply, bagging him a spot on the BBC Sound of 2017 list in the process. Despite finding speedy fame down the path of collaboration, Grennan is insistent that his own music hasn’t been overly inspired by his work with others. “I don’t think it’s influenced the music I’m making right now,” he explains. “It’s influenced me with their work ethics and stuff like that on the way that I work, but the sound I made with them isn’t the sound I’ll be making on my own album.”

Grennan’s own music is chirpy, immaculately presented and brimming with self-confidence, just like its creator. But, despite the burgeoning success of singles ‘Something In The Water’ and ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’, he’s insistent that the world is yet to hear the best song he’s written so far. “It’ll be on the album, maybe ‘Lucky Ones’ or ‘Run In The Rain’,” he declares with the confidence that comes with being 21 and in-demand.

Though the album in question won’t be finished until 2018, Grennan is already adamant that the songs on it are going to take the world by storm. “I can’t wait to show people every song, because they’re all bangers. That might sound big-headed, but they are.” If that trajectory continues and self-belief holds, then it doesn’t matter that he might have missed his chance to play at Wembley for Bedford Town FC, he could well end up playing there as Tom Grennan.

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Words: Josh Gray
Photography: Sophie Mayanne
Fashion: Koulla Sergi
Grooming: Cinta Miller

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