Billy Nomates (album)

Billy Nomates is the self-titled debut studio album by English musician and songwriter Tor Maries, who performs under the stage name Billy Nomates. It was released on 7 August 2020 through Invada Records.^[2]

Billy Nomates
Studio album by Billy Nomates
Released	7 August 2020 (2020-08-07)
Studio	Invada Studios (Bristol)
Genre	Electronic rock
Length	32:55
Label	Invada Records
Billy Nomates chronology
Billy Nomates (2020) Cacti (2023)
Singles from Billy Nomates
"No" Released: 11 March 2020 "FNP" Released: 1 June 2020 "Hippy Elite" Released: 10 July 2020[1]

The album features a verse written and performed by Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods, the band who inspired Maries to return to writing music and who later reciprocally featured her on their single "Mork N Mindy" the same year.^[3]

Maries performs vocals, guitar, bass and synths, with additional contributions by Rich Leicester on bass and Bill Maries on drums.^[4] The album was recorded with Portishead's Geoff Barrow,^[5] founder of Invada Records.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Robert Christgau	A[7]
The Irish Times	[8]
Loud and Quiet	7/10[9]

Billy Nomates received generally positive reviews, being selected as radio DJ Amy Lamé's album of the year on BBC Radio 6 Music,^[10] as well as 'One to watch' by The Guardian's Laura Snape^[11] and also making Brooklyn Vegan's top albums of the year list.^[12]

The NME stated how the "sparse, self-styled DIY arrangements" of the album would "play well alongside the likes of Patti Smith and Eleanor Friedberg",^[13] while Clash described the second single "FNP" as a "biting return".^[14]

On 27 August 2020, the album was selected as Album of the Day on BBC Radio 6Music.^[15]

In an interview with BrooklynVegan, Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods described the single "No" as "a masterpiece".^[16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tor Maries.^[17] Additional verse on "Supermarket Sweep" written by Jason Williamson

Billy Nomates track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Modern Hart"	2:24
2.	"Hippy Elite"	2:48
3.	"Happy Misery"	2:10
4.	"No"	2:58
5.	"Supermarket Sweep" (featuring Jason Williamson)	2:58
6.	"FNP"	3:39
7.	"Mudslinger"	3:06
8.	"Call in Sick"	3:44
9.	"Fat White Man"	3:28
10.	"Wild Arena"	2:43
11.	"Escape Artist"	2:54
Total length:		32:55

Personnel

Musicians

• Tor Maries – vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer
• Rich Leicester – bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 11)
• Bill Maries – live drums (tracks 2-4)
• Jason Williamson – additional vocals (track 5)

Technical

• Stu Matthews – mixing (tracks 1-3, 5-11)
• Geoff Barrow – mixing (tracks 1-3, 5-11)
• James Trevascus – mixing (track 4), mastering
• Tor Maries – mixing (all tracks)
• Marc Bessant – design
• Cindy Sasha – photography, imagery