Tatum Tides' new single 'Tiptoe' turns a tumultuous year into music as the Durban singer talks London, life's detours and her upcoming EP.
Life, in song. Tatum Tides released a new single Tiptoe. Picture Hein Kaiser
Two weeks is not a lot of time to get your life together, organise a visa, book a flight and head to London. But when opportunity knocked for Durban singer-songwriter Tatum Tides, there was little time to overthink it.
In fact, overthinking life and rejecting prescribed expectations has become somewhat of a mantra for the talented artist. But more about that shortly.
Tides recently returned from the UK, where she opened for Booshle G on his tour of the island.
“It was a massive opportunity that I knew I couldn’t do,” she said. “Sharing my music on a bigger platform opened my mind much more to how wide the world is and how much more I want to share my music and see how it touches people’s hearts.”
The trip came at the right time, too. After spending two years creating and recording material for an EP, Tides is finally putting the music out into the universe.
She plans to release a new track roughly every seven weeks before dropping the complete EP around October or November.
Stop overthinking life
Tiptoe is the latest in the series of planned releases.
It’s a biographical piece, said Tides, and encapsulates what 2025 was like. And, by her account, it sucked.
“Last year,” she said, “was tumultuous. There were endings, doors closing and the uncomfortable realisation that perhaps what I thought I wanted was no longer what I actually wanted.”
A friend reminded her that life did not have to be linear. “You don’t have to always know what’s coming next,” she said.
“Everyone’s journey looks so different to the next.”
It sounds obvious, but the pressure to tick life’s boxes can be relentless. School. Career. Marriage. Children. Preferably in that order and, if social media is anything to go by, before everyone else gets there.
Watch ‘Tiptoe”s music video
Tides has stopped buying into that timeline.
“Not everyone does all the things in all the right spaces,” she said. “Some people will travel. Some people choose not to have children. Some people have dogs.”
Tiptoe is about taking baby steps, being cautious without becoming paralysed by caution and accepting that someone else’s timing does not have to become yours.
“In your own time, the right things will find you,” she said.
Do life in your own time
Last year’s lessons were not only philosophical. Her father was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and moved in with her during his treatment.
“It was really special to be able to have that time with him,” she said.
It also changed the way she looked at her own life.
“It was just a lot of big moments that really make you present and actively deciding what you want your life to look like.”
She said the challenging experiences helped shape who she has become and the kind of artist she wants to be.
“Everything’s a lesson, whether it’s good or bad, and I’m grateful for everything I’ve gone through to be able to get to this point.”
Tiptoe was written with producer Paul Mitchell, one of several collaborations she has done over time. Tides featured with Neon Dreams on I Got You Flowers and wrote Honey with Booshie G and Billy Ruffle while they were on tour together last year.
Tides is presently focused on completing the rest of the EP in her hometown of Durban and hopes the summer festival circuit will follow, taking the music on the road.
“The doors are opening for my music,” she said. “And it’s really exciting.”
