Tokyo Taboo confront conformity on new single FREAK! as UK dates approach
Tokyo Taboo have released FREAK!, a defiant new single and video centred on identity, self-acceptance and the pressure to conform. The track arrives ahead of a run of late-November UK dates supporting Millie Manders And The Shutup, followed by three Tokyo Taboo headline shows.
Written by frontwoman Dolly Daggerz as she has come to terms with her ADHD and bisexuality, FREAK! tackles the shame and isolation that can come with feeling different, before turning that experience into a full-volume refusal to disappear.
Daggerz says: “There comes a breaking point where you just can’t hide anymore. As I get older, I become more of who I truly am and accept my weird brain for all of its crazy ideas. I don’t shame myself anymore, and I don’t hide. There’s something brave about being yourself loudly, and it inspires others to be their true selfs too! Dedicated to all my freaks out there – you are amazing!”
Colour against conformity
The accompanying video places a deliberately monochrome vision of conformity against brighter, more expressive scenes, mirroring the song’s push against masking and self-erasure. It also includes footage from the band’s appearance at Pride Rock earlier this year, where Daggerz addresses the crowd with a pointed line: “I’d rather be a FREAK! than anything like those politicians out there…”
Watch the video for FREAK! here. The single is also available to stream now.
FREAK! follows the band’s summer release WINGS, with both songs set to feature in the forthcoming live sets. Tokyo Taboo will join Millie Manders And The Shutup for four shows across York, Grimsby, Bolton and Hebden Bridge before heading to Brighton, Bristol and London for headline appearances.
Tokyo Taboo take FREAK! on the road
- 25 November – York, Fulford Arms – with Millie Manders And The Shutup – Tickets
- 26 November – Grimsby, Yardbirds – with Millie Manders And The Shutup – Tickets
- 27 November – Bolton, Alma Inn – with Millie Manders And The Shutup – Tickets
- 28 November – Hebden Bridge, Trades Club – with Millie Manders And The Shutup – Tickets
- 29 November – Brighton, Daltons Rock N Pole
- 1 December – Bristol, The Exchange
- 3 December – London, Nambucca
