ONLY TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE TEDDY SWIMS’ BREAKOUT SINGLE PUT THE POWERHOUSE CROONER ON THE MAP, AND TODAY HE CONTINUES TO RISE TO SUPERSTARDOM WITH HIS GENRE-BLENDING SOUND AND HEARTFELT STORYTELLING
BY DAN SALAMONE
T eddy Swims (born Jaten Collin Dimsdale 32 years ago) sounds like the predictable but not unpleasant endpoint of the total dissolution of genre. He sounds entirely current, in that his music evokes everything from Frank Ocean to Jelly Roll. With the former, he shares a soulful, confessional style and a name that evokes (possibly intentionally) one of Ocean’s most iconic singles, “Swim Good.” With Jerry Roll, Swims shares a vocal timbre, plus a fashion sense and visual attitude that one might describe as “chic yokel goes to Urban Outfitters and an upscale version of Chess King.” His music, like a lot of modern sound, is completely genre apolitical: a little bit of soul, pop, rock, indie, and country, melded together to fit all of them equally well. On his split debut album(s), late 2023’s I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1) and early 2024’s I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2), there is very little that can’t play in algorithmic Spotify mixes for any of the aforementioned genres. As gritty and self-reflexive as his lyrics can be, the gleaming diamond polish of the production on every song is maximized to be welcomed by the broadest number of ears. Whether your jam is Lauryn Hill, Drake, Adele, or Morgan Wallen, nothing on those two albums will be unpleasurable to you. This may be why Part 1’s single “Lose Control” ended up being the biggest song of 2024 according to Billboard.
That natural class-melding makes sense given his own personal story. He grew up as the grandson of a Pentecostal pastor in Conyers, Georgia, a county-seat small town of around 17,000, nestled about 24 miles east of downtown Atlanta. (Side note: having driven through the area a few times during my years living in Atlanta, I can tell you that its proximity to the city doesn’t reflect the town much at all). Despite being a place with a surprising number of famous sons and daughters (Dakota Fanning, Holly Hunter, DeForest Kelley, and Jack McBrayer all hail from the suburb, along with a raft of professional athletes), Conyers is a much less affluent cousin to its big-city neighbor. In 2022, the median household income for Conyers was about $30K a year less than that of Atlantans. It is also an area with a higher percentage of Black residents: 62% compared to 38% in Atlanta. This cultural influence in his upbringing undoubtedly speaks to the huge role of Black artists (especially those of Motown vintage) in TS’s sound, but that isn’t the only influence. Despite playing football while growing up, Swims was also a bit of a theater kid, having performed in both Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Rent. He played in an assortment of bands in high school, showing off his facility with funk, soul, country, ‘80s hair metal, and modern metal core. He learned how to play both piano and ukulele, and picked up his vocal technique by studying YouTube videos of his favorite artists. His first few EPs were almost exclusively covers of other artists he admired, including a Christmas album (A Very Teddy Christmas) released by the Warner label in 2022.
What does all this reflect about the man himself? In terms of the sound, it reflects a fast learner with a commendably broad musical palette of influences. It also reflects someone who was always made to please crowds through his combination of familiar soundtracks, amiably soulful vocal range, and raw (dare we even say “proto-emo”) lyrical content, built around examining and excoriating his own demons and the mistakes that came with wrestling those prodigious emotional terrors.
Here’s hoping that Swim’s next record reflects not just his vast, and uncannily commercial, talent and the relatably unvarnished lens he applies to himself and his own past, but also merges those painful, cathartic insights with a sound that takes exciting new risks. In this scary but exciting new area, I’m confident that Teddy Swims will not just continue to find a popular audience, but also begin to find the fearlessly brilliant artist that lies within him.
Teddy Swims