Beginning her career as a busker in Byron Bay, Australian singer-songwriter Toni Watson learned all about hooking listeners early, a lesson she applied to great effect on 2019’s worldwide smash “Dance Monkey”. That feel-good earworm transformed her Tones and I project from DIY fluke to record-breaking pop phenomenon. But that was just the beginning. The self-taught producer was quick to follow up her success with more stories about the relatable daily struggle to find happiness. Watson’s 2021 debut album, Welcome to the Madhouse—named after the house she and nine of her friends lived in during the pandemic—is remarkably personal behind the melodies. Upgrading the frequent finger-snaps of her earlier EP with celebratory swaths of handclaps and choirs, Watson evokes the joyous release of gospel music in her seize-the-moment party tracks, like “Cloudy Day”, about finding the silver lining, and “Fly Away”, a frank admission about her instinct to flee from inner fears and insecurities.