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Yves Tumor
Yves Tumor in 2019 (cropped).jpg
Yves Tumor in 2019
Background information
Birth name Sean Lee Bowie
Also known as
  • Teams
  • Bekelé Berhanu
  • Rajel Ali
  • Shanti
  • Yvesie Ray Vaughan
Born Miami, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • synthesizer
  • keyboards
  • guitar
  • bass
  • drums
Years active 2010–present
Labels
  • PAN
  • Warp
Associated acts

Sean Lee Bowie, best known by the recording alias Yves Tumor, is an American musician and producer of experimental music, born in Miami, Florida and currently based in Turin, Italy.

To date, they have released five studio albums: When Man Fails You (2015), Serpent Music (2016), Safe in the Hands of Love (2018), Heaven to a Tortured Mind (2020), and Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (2023).

Life and career

Raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tumor started making music at age 16 as an outlet away from "dull, conservative surroundings." Tumor is self-taught, and plays drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards. Describing their experience growing up in Tennessee as unpleasant, Yves moved at age 20 to San Diego, and then after college, to Los Angeles. They met Mykki Blanco in 2012, later touring for two and a half years throughout Europe and Asia.

In the early 2010s, Tumor recorded as Teams, and made music which AllMusic described as "post-chillwave". They debuted the Yves Tumor project in 2015 with an EP for Berlin's experimental club label Janus, and another one for Blanco's label, Dogfood MG. That same year, they released their first album, When Man Fails You (which would later be re-released by Apothecary Compositions on April 29, 2016).

In September 2016, Tumor signed with PAN Records and released their label debut, Serpent Music. Yves had worked on the album for three years after moving to Leipzig, Germany. The album was recorded between Miami, Leipzig, Los Angeles and Berlin. In Pitchfork's review of the album, critic Andy Beta compared Tumor's musical style to James Ferraro and Dean Blunt, and noted their use of "unsettling percussive loops and field recordings to create a mood as if lost in a strange urban landscape."

In September 2017, Tumor released a compilation album titled Experiencing the Deposit of Faith for free. Later that week, it was revealed through a tour announcement that Tumor had signed to Warp Records. Following the announcement, the artist embarked on a tour with a new audiovisual show.

In September 2018, Tumor released their Warp debut, Safe in the Hands of Love, with no prior announcement. It was preceded by the singles "Noid" on July 24, "Licking an Orchid" featuring James K on August 29, and "Lifetime" on September 3. The album received universal acclaim from music critics. Pitchfork's Jayson Greene stated in the review that the album "dwarfs everything the artist has released by several orders of magnitude. The leap is so audacious it's disorienting."

Tumor's fourth album, Heaven to a Tortured Mind, was released on April 3, 2020, preceded on March 3 by the single "Kerosene" featuring Diana Gordon. Alexis Petridis, reviewing the album for The Guardian, awarded it Album of the Week, describing it as "extraordinary: experimental, capable of any genre, with an internal logic powering its shifts in mood.[…] There's real skill involved in coming up with something that sounds coherent while shifting through so many styles."

In October 2020, Tumor said in an interview with Michèle Lamy " I have another EP and a whole album basically not finished, but ready to start finishing. I've been very busy during the quarantine." In December 2020, Tumor released the single "let all the poisons that lurk in the mud seep out" in collaboration with Kelsey Lu, featuring Kelly Moran and Moses Boyd. In July 2021, they released the EP The Asymptotical World, recorded in collaboration with their bandmates, Chris Greatti and Yves Rothman.

In February 2023, Tumor was interviewed by Courtney Love for Interview magazine, in which they briefly hinted at an upcoming album. Shortly after, in March 2023, Tumor released their fifth album, "Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)", critically acclaimed as an ambitious, "ecstatic fusion of alt-rock and R&B", "spellbinding art rock", and a "Romantic, corporeal, gothy" offering that disrupts "hierarchies of gender, race, desire...and performance" via its "intense magnification and worship of life, death and spirituality." Tumor was part of the Coachella 2023 lineup.

Musical style

Tumor's earlier work was compared to that of Dean Blunt and James Ferraro, the latter of whom they have collaborated with; however, their more recent music, such as Heaven to a Tortured Mind, has been likened to Prince and David Bowie.

Tumor has cited Throbbing Gristle as an influence, saying: "Sonically, Throbbing Gristle (were very inspirational). There’s something about their music, like the hypnotic trance vibes, that really influenced me. When I moved to Los Angeles after college, a good friend of mine would always play Chris & Cosey records when we were hanging out. I slowly became obsessed with them and started reading about Genesis P-Orridge and that whole movement."

Personal life

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tumor designed furniture and furthered their interest in upholstery: "I just got really into my other hobbies, which include architecture and interior architecture, and urban architecture, but I'm not that good at math, so I wanted to scale everything down. I just decided to just start constructing chairs and couches and stools, but I think I'm going to begin welding as opposed to actual construction."

Backing band

In the studio and during live performances, Tumor is joined by:

  • Chris Greatti – lead guitar (2019–present)
  • Gina Ramirez – bass guitar (2019–present)
  • Yves Rothman – electronics, samples (2019–present)
  • Rhys Hastings – drums (2019–present)

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions
Title Details Peak chart positions
BEL
(FL)

SCO
UK
DL
UK
Indie
When Man Fails You
Serpent Music
  • Released: September 22, 2016
  • Label: PAN
  • Format: LP, digital download
Safe in the Hands of Love
  • Released: September 5, 2018
  • Label: Warp
  • Format: LP, CD, digital download
Heaven to a Tortured Mind
  • Released: April 3, 2020
  • Label: Warp
  • Format: LP, CD, digital download
170 38 29 8
Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
  • Released: March 17, 2023
  • Label: Warp
  • Format: LP, CD, digital download
34

Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with selected details
Title Details
Experiencing the Deposit of Faith
  • Released: September 13, 2017
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected details
Title Details
The Asymptotical World
  • Released: July 15, 2021
  • Label: Warp
  • Format: LP, digital download

Singles

List of singles
Title Year Album
"Noid" 2018 Safe in the Hands of Love
"Licking an Orchid"
(featuring James K)
"Lifetime"
"Applaud"
(featuring Hirakish, Napolian, and Anthem)
2019 non-album single
"Gospel for a New Century" 2020 Heaven to a Tortured Mind
"Kerosene!"
"Romanticist" / "Dream Palette"
"Jackie" 2021 The Asymptotical World
"God Is a Circle" 2022 Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
"Echolalia" 2023
"Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood"

Guest appearances

List of guest appearances
Title Year Artist Album
"Histrionic I" 2015 Mykki Blanco Mykki Blanco Presents C-ORE
"Childish"
"Histrionic II"
"Histrionic III / Skunk of the Earth"
"Limerence" 2017 None Mono No Aware
"Reanimator" 2020 Joji Nectar
"Let All the Poisons That Lurk in the Mud Seep Out" Kelsey Lu, Kelly Moran, Moses Boyd Let All the Poisons That Lurk in the Mud Seep Out
"Perfectly Not Close To Me" 2022 Willow Coping Mechanism

Remixes

List of remixes
Title Year Artist Album
"Zure"
(Yves Tumor Obsession Edit)
2017 Ryuichi Sakamoto Async – Remodels
"The Altar"
(Ruined By Yves Tumor)
2018 Alice Glass Alice Glass (Remixes)
"Smoke"
(Remix)
Blood Orange, Yves Tumor, Ian Isiah Smoke (Remix)

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Nominated Work Result Ref
2019 Libera Awards Record of the Year Safe in the Hands of Love Nominated
Best Dance/Electronic Record Won
Best Outlier Record Nominated
2020 AIM Independent Music Awards Best Independent Track "Gospel for a New Century" Nominated
2021 Libera Awards Record of the Year Heaven to a Tortured Mind Nominated
Best Outlier Record Nominated
2022 Video of the Year "Jackie" Nominated
AIM Independent Music Awards Best Independent Track Nominated

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Yves Tumor para niños

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