TCTS teams up with punctual and Raphaella for ‘Love Me Or Lie’
- by Andrew Braithwaite
- in Latest
The producer, artist and DJ TCTS has been on fire in recent months, picking up repeated Radio 1 plays and spending four weeks trending Top 5 on the Dance Edit for his Nonô collab ‘Off My Mind’, dropping a big remix of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Overpass Graffiti’, and delivering a culture clash collab ‘RICH GIRL’ with CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE. There’s no letting up as TCTS now teams up with electro duo Punctual (‘I Don’t Wanna Know’) and versatile vocal star Raphaella (Rudimental, MK, Gorgon City) for the new track ‘Love Me Or Lie’. Listen below.
The three artists guarantee that ‘Love Me Or Lie’ immediately bursts into life. Raphaella’s gloriously gorgeous topline captures the soul and pop edge that has made her such an in-demand vocalist, while wubby synths and punchy snares explode out of the mix. By the time the beat drops and the pitch-shifted vocals provide an addictive hook, the trio have created a crossover dance anthem that’s perfectly timed for the springtime sun.
‘Love Me or Lie’ was written and produced by all three artists.
TCTS says, “I’m so hyped to get this one out there. I’ve been a big fan of both Punctual and Raphaella for ages, and feel like we've made something special together here. It’s uplifting and euphoric, but can still bang on a club system.”
Punctual explains, “TCTS had showed us a version of this track and we loved the song so much that we decided to collaborate on the record, working together and getting it to a place that felt like somewhere between our two production styles whilst serving Raphaella’s brilliant vocals. We hope you love the track as much as we do!”
Raphaella adds, “We wrote love me or lie in the first lockdown & I recorded it in my make-shift studio in my parents living room after I had to move everything out of my studio at the beginning of the pandemic! haha it's really about the beginning of a relationship when it feels so undeniably good when you're together but you don't fully trust the other person and their intentions yet and are scared to fall because they're giving mixed signals. Love is so incredibly vulnerable and that's what partly makes it so amazing, but 'Love me or Lie' is really that conversation you want to have but are maybe too scared to too soon.’
TCTS, real name Sam O’Neill, is a producer and DJ from Manchester. Having landed his first break by sending a demo to BBC Introducing, TCTS has since accumulated over 90 million career streams to date plus 1.2 million monthly listeners at Spotify. He hosts a key Friday night show at KISS FM, and has remixed or collaborated with an eclectic array of artists including Ed Sheeran, David Guetta, Masked Wolf, Felix Jaehn, CamelPhat, Todd Terry, Alex Metric and Wilkinson.
Consisting of Will Lansley and John Morgan, Punctual are a rising electronic duo with a gift for crafting high-energy, party-starting club anthems - with ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’, ‘Imagine’ and ‘Summer of Love’ all floor-filling, crowd-pleasure house favourites with an infectious vibe. They’ve also collaborated with Kid Ink, Aluna and Skinny Living, while producing show-stopping remixes for RAYE, Jonas Blue and HONNE. Their collaborations outside of Punctual have included star names such as Years & Years, Steve Aoki and Jason Derulo.
Raphaella’s voice has lit up a catalogue of big tunes which have hit Radio 1 and 1Xtra, with an A-Z of high profile collaborators such as Rudimental, Gorgon City, MK, MNEK, Wilkinson, MIST, Yungen and many more. She often records and produces her vocals in her studio in Shoreditch, where she also writes with and produces for other rising artists. Her solo career highlights her mixed heritage, blending elements of UK alt-pop with an experimental use of traditional Persian instrumentation.
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