Allday

Born in 1991, Adelaide, Australia native Tom Gaynor, a.k.a. Allday, emerged in the early 2010s as an indie-friendly rapper dispensing vital personal truths. Songs like 2014’s “You Always Know the DJ” mingle hip-hop and dance elements to attain heightened earworm pop without sacrificing his confiding, unfiltered delivery, while 2017’s Japanese Wallpaper team-up “In Motion” proves Gaynor’s easy hand at affecting romance. A natural collaborator, he has long been a go-to source of guest-star heat for others, memorably dropping in on songs by Troye Sivan, The Veronicas, Amy Shark and Mallrat for a heartfelt rapped verse. By contrast, his 2021 album Drinking With My Smoking Friends mostly eschews hip-hop for radiant bursts of guitar-driven dream-pop while the lyrics reflect on his stint living in Los Angeles. On the soul-searching opener “Void”, Gaynor laments romantic letdowns in a knowing way that cuts just as deep as his sharpest rapping.