Every other music think piece you read nowadays seems to bemoan the lack of new UK talent breaking in a big way. It's depressing for a host of reasons, not least because Piri & Tommy, aka this country's most exciting dance-pop proposition, exist and have been proving that statement wrong since 2021. That year they released their DayGlo debut single, Soft Spot, a tender drum'n'bass shuffle that went viral on TikTok and now sits on 27m streams on Spotify alone. That was no social media fluke however, and was swiftly followed by the likes of Beachin' and Words – two similarly gargantuan, idiosyncratic dance tunes – before the hypnotic On & On sent them stratospheric (120m streams and counting). Not bad for a band who only formed in lockdown and couldn't play their first gig until restrictions had lifted, by which time their fanbase had grown significantly. Since then they've completed sold-out tours of the UK, Europe and Australia, supported Charli XCX in Brighton, as well as bringing their full-band live show to festivals across the country. 

But that was then and this is now. A lot has changed. Now independent after deciding to walk away from a deal with Polydor, and no longer dating each other, this is phase two of Piri & Tommy's takeover. Their relationship status may have changed, but if anything it’s made the band stronger. “We get asked a lot how we can still work together despite being exes, people are so doubtful and speculative about it but we’re just super chill,” explains Piri. “We have always cared for and respected each other a whole lot, and I don’t think either of us had any doubts at all that we would keep making music together. The music is a constant, regardless of the relationship status we are and were always band mates.”

This strength is evidenced by 99%, the hook-laden, sun-kissed first single from their forthcoming EP, which depicts an infamous Leeds house party the pair would frequent. “Every student house has a basement and it's just the best party possible,” remembers Piri, aka Sophie 'Piri' McBurnie. “They'd built their own sound system and covered the room in tin foil, it was crazy. It gets so packed, so you can't move. The 99% is the capacity – there's no space.” 

It's just one song on the EP aimed to prove that Piri & Tommy are a whole lot more than 'that band off TikTok' or 'that drum'n'bass duo' or 'not serious musicians'. “A lot of people don't realise the depth we have. Or how versatile we can be in terms of how many different styles of music we can make,” says Tommy Villiers. “There are no co-writers, there are no co-producers,” adds Piri. “Tommy mixed everything and mastered a lot of them. We keep it like a band. Because we make playful and cheerful music and because we came up through TikTok people write us off and take for granted that the music is actually good. We take our music super seriously, we care, we really consider every decision we make musically, even though we produce music which itself feels carefree and fun.” Adds Tommy: “It’s an art form to be fun, you have to be creative to be silly.” 

Piri & Tommy's origin story is so fantastical it feels, as Piri puts it, like “cosmic coincidence”. While Tommy was having a photoshoot for his then band, the Manchester-based Porij, Piri, having just finished University and living in nearby Rochdale, was on Twitter scrolling mindlessly. Suddenly a photo from the shoot found its way to her timeline, shared by a mutual friend. Piri thought “he's cute” of Tommy. It turns out they'd also matched on Tinder, so she messaged him. “It was Covid times, 2020, so it was that summer where it was 'eat out to help out',” explains Piri. “We went on a date in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester and chatted about music and everything. We didn't intend to make any music together. He didn't know I did songwriting. I'd done a bit on guitar but I wasn't very good at playing so it held me back.”

For Piri, finances didn't allow her to even imagine being a musician. Skint after finishing her science degree at University, she was working with the rest of her family in the local Asda. “It's scary how unlikely it was that we met,” Piri says. “If I hadn't seen that one Tweet... It trips me out that my whole life changed so much because I never would have gone into music otherwise.” When lockdown two struck towards the end of 2020 the pair decided to bubble together in Tommy's student house. Born in Essex, where he learned the trumpet at school before moving onto the guitar, bass and drums and a host of bands he always thought would be The One (“He got kicked out of one of his first bands for being too serious about it,” laughs Piri), Tommy was in Manchester to study music. Piri remembers: “So lockdown two came and it was either I go and stay with my parents, after graduating and living on my own for three years at Uni, or I live in a student house in Manchester with a cool band. I thought 'let's do that instead'. It was probably after three or four dates that I was like 'how do you produce? How does it work?'” Tommy worked up a track full of “dancey weirdness” and sent it to Piri. “I had this sick house beat suddenly, which is way more in the alley of music I listen to,” she says.

Having bonded over a love of dance music, specifically the likes of Disclosure, MJ Cole and Kaytranada, the two started to work together more. Piri also carved out more time for music by supplementing her Asda money with an OnlyFans account. “I was able to quit Asda just after Christmas in 2021.” Later, when the band took off, her account became a hot topic online and in the media. Not that it bothered her of course. “To start something like that you have to be sure of yourself. And know that you're not doing anything wrong,” she shrugs. “If I'm putting it out there myself and I'm proud of it, no one can hold it against me. So it's like and what?” Society has been designed with this tendency to connect a woman’s worth with her perceived level of purity. I think in reality there is nothing inherently immoral about being sexual, and sex work is no different to any other kind of labour. Sex is a fundamental and natural part of life, no person should be looked down upon for sharing theirs publicly!”

Early single It's a Match was billed as a Piri single, produced by Tommy, rather than Piri & Tommy, purely because “we were making music and putting it out for no reason, just for fun,” explains Piri. “We didn't think too much about it.” It was Soft Spot, however, that changed everything. Helped by Piri's TikTok presence, and the fact it was excellent, it got the attention of major labels, with the duo eventually signing to Polydor. “It was nuts,” smiles Tommy. “Just as I was leaving Uni as well.” The timing was perfect in more ways than one. “Everyone was really interested in the tune and what other music we had,” says Piri. “In 2021, that was when TikTok music was really starting to be a thing, with PinkPantheress and Doja Cat with Say So. Labels were keen to find the next TikTok song.”

Keen to be more than that, however, the deeply musical pair continued working on their songs, with Tommy sending over a varied selection of intricate dance beats for Piri to write to. “Because I come from such a science background, and I was very academic, writing songs feels like problem solving to me,” she explains. “I like to do it on my own. No distractions. I'm getting better at doing things collaboratively now, but it's been a journey.” Some of the lyrical inspiration would come from her life, with what would become debut mixtape, 2022's froge.mp3, telling the story of the pair's relationship, or her friend's, or from a bank of phrases and idioms she keeps on her phone (Soft Spot being one of them). The pair's next singles Beachin' and Words diversified their sound into more chilled 2-step and garage respectively, but it was On & On that ramped up momentum still further. “It was an old abandoned, grotty drum'n'bass song and then I took everything out and put over some new chords,” Tommy explains. “Then Piri wrote it in an hour.” Adds Piri: “It’s about a day at Parklife, the first festival we went to after covid, and I was struck by the feeling of being in a crowd again and the immense energy of all those people.”

Their experience of the music industry so far has given them an extra sense of clarity, and one which they've taken into the making of their next EP. It's a collection of music that thrums with a much freer sense of experimentation. “When we left our previous label that was a huge creative boost,” says Piri. “It really felt like art again. It felt way less like a product. We made more of our weirder songs in that period.” So as well as the huge modern dance banger 99% - inspired by DJ Oppidan playing a remix of Justin Timberlake's Señorita on a night out. On the flipside there's Dog, an elastic dance-pop bop “about dating and being pissed off with it” explains Piri, who calls it “a song for the girls and gays.” It started out as an instrumental called Badoing Badoing, inspired by the noises kangaroos make when they jump (Tommy was in Australia at the time of its creation). Then there's the UK garage anthem Head Fuk, and the pissed off Who Invited You, which was inspired by the same Leeds house party as 99%. “It's about an arsehole being at the party,” states Piri matter of factly. In another example of the cosmic coincidence of their coming together, it turns out the pair realised they had mutual acquaintances at these parties and that they'd likely been in the same room before they met properly in 2020. 

It's this deep-rooted connection, both personally and professionally, that makes Piri & Tommy so special. Everything they do comes from a mutual respect for each other. “Tommy is a true humble genius, so gifted and dedicated to his craft, but always has time of day for others and would never put himself above anyone else,” Piri says. “He’s just one of those people who was truly born to do this, music is surely built into his bones, and seeing him succeed and being able to succeed with him is a joy.” Tommy, meanwhile, refers to Piri as “the CEO of melody, before adding: “She is an artist that will never not be authentic! her writing style is so unique but still connects with so many people.”

And it's only going to get bigger. Not in a chasing TikTok trends way, or a viral moment for the sake of it way, but in the way that all bands want to get bigger; better music, better shows, more connection with their fans. “As well as having the music thing we try and make our live shows an experience,” Piri explains. 

“When we were first making the live show we really could’ve gone down the easy route and just have tommy djing tracks while I sing, but we knew we wanted to do more than that. From our very first show we had a live drummer. We have moments in our shows that people remember. I don't want people to ever check the time on their phones. You have to be in the moment with us.” Trust me, it's a lovely place to be.

‍