And The Voice Said

Tōth’s paradoxical third album, And The Voice Said, is a prayer to be able to pray, a meditation on why he meditates, and a collection of jokes about what he holds sacred. “I’ve always felt conflicted about my spiritual strivings,” Tōth says. “I never wanted to identify as a Buddhist because Buddhism is supposed to be about non-identity. There’s a classic line: ‘If you see the Buddha, kill the Buddha.’ This album is my attempt to kill the Buddha.” For Tōth, that might mean ending shows with audience-wide singalongs of “Open your heart to the universe!”

Part irony, part catharsis. “It’s tongue-in-cheek but joyous,” he explains. “My default is so negative and self-loathing. I’m poking fun at the same things I need to survive.” That duality – humor and holiness, irony and sincerity – runs through the album, which features a duet with Kimbra and was co-produced by Grammy-nominated artist Caroline Rose. It’s also the first Tōth album involving another producer. “I’ve never liked having teachers or sponsors, but I need them to get out of my own way. Caroline wouldn’t let me hide behind abstraction; they had practices to help me connect with the ‘voice’ in the title.”