“I knew I wanted to be vulnerable in this album,” Toni Watson—aka Australian singer-songwriter Tones And I—tells Apple Music. That much becomes clear a few seconds into the devastatingly raw opener “To Be Loved”. With piano and strings swelling around her, Watson offers a heartfelt apology to her sister and brother, before one of an altogether more confronting nature: “And to the guy that hit me, I’m so sorry that I stayed/But I wanted to be loved, but to me that love was pain/I let you break me down so I could build me up again.” Such honesty is indicative of a record on which Watson was committed to digging deeper emotionally and musically than ever before. “The last album [2021’s Welcome to the Madhouse] I’m not really happy with at all, I wanted to change so much,” she says. “I don’t want to regret this one like I regret the last one. The production was lazy. It was just lazy work. I wasn’t honest and vulnerable about myself, I [just] wrote poppy melodies. As a composer I really wanted to create an album that had more depth to it.” While Welcome to the Madhouse came together in a matter of months, Beautifully Ordinary was written in and around touring cycles over a period of a year and a half. Determined to display her versatility, Watson sings in a lower register on the soulful, rootsy “Raise Me Up” and fragile “Lose Someone Like Me”, while musically she oscillates between emotive ballads, attitude-laden indie (“You Don’t Know Me Like That”) and all-out pop (“Call My Name”, co-written with Drake and BTS collaborator Jenna Andrews). The intensely personal family tale “Sorrento”, meanwhile, marks her as a formidable storyteller with a keen eye for detail. The album takes its name from a song Watson deemed unsuitable for the record, though its title resonated with her goals around being vulnerable and open. “I think you can see the beautiful in the ordinary, and I think all of us feel ordinary,” she explains. Here, Watson walks us through Beautifully Ordinary, track by track. “To Be Loved” “I brought things up that I’ve never brought up before. I think that’s me opening myself up to keep growing. But genuinely, I gave in that song as much as I could; I probably couldn’t go into much more detail comfortably. I think I need to slowly start edging towards opening up more, and this is kind of my first step into that ocean.” “Lose Someone Like Me” “It’s the biggest heartbreak that a young girl could have, which is with my best friend. It’s still raw. Even though it’s been a few years, I haven’t been able to write about it. And that’s why I almost didn’t release this song. And I know this person will know who it’s about. And this will be my version of reaching out. It’s important that I put it out there so I can move on.” “I Get High” “‘I Get High’ is about those best friends that you have, and you’re not old enough to go to clubs yet, but you get in cars with older boys at night, you sneak out, or you drink in the park, and you get up to mischief. Our feelings are so heightened at that age. As we get older, we have to subdue our emotions a lot more. There are great friendships when you’re that young and you share so much and go through so much together. I really wanted to touch on that.” “We’ll See Stars” “I wanted it to be about giving my sister one night of no worries. I just want her to be happy, and that flows into ‘Wonderful’ as well. This one’s about ‘let’s go out for the night, put all your worries aside, let’s have a sister night. I want you to experience life to its fullest and I want you to let go and have a good time.’ I picture my sister running around the city at night just having a good time.” “Dance With Me” “I wanted this song to feel bassy and ’80s, kind of giving a vibe of Robyn’s ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ or ‘Dancing on My Own’. But even though sonically you’re moving to it, you’re dancing to it, the lyrics are sad. And I love that. The song doesn’t mean you’re physically dancing. Whatever the thing that you and your partner used to do when you were at your happiest moment, I’m sitting here in that spot waiting for you to come back to me, but you’re nowhere to be seen. So I’m just here on my own.” “Figure It Out” “This is the first track I wrote for the album. I wanted time to grow. I think everyone needs time to grow. People think that your first or biggest thing is just who you are now, and that’s such a defining factor of everything. But I think it’s important that everyone gets that opportunity to grow, and I think I’m asking for it in that chorus.” “Wonderful” “It’s about my sister, or it could be my best friend. There’s times where they’re at their lowest, and you just want to give them your perspective so that they could see how much potential they have, even though their brain isn’t letting them see that. It’s just about trying to help them at their worst.” “Raise Me Up” “Another song about desperation in a relationship, just wanting to be seen and heard. The song is about needing help and asking for it.” “Dreaming” “‘Dreaming’ could be about a friendship or love. For me it’s both. [It’s saying] I don’t know if it’s all in my head, but I think we’re growing apart. It goes into detail in the verses, but then it goes back to ‘but is it all in my head?’. So not really knowing.” “You Don’t Know Me Like That” “This is about a stalker. I have this stalker that comes to my house, leaves random stuff. I’ve got this massive thing they wrote me. I didn’t ever mean to talk about this. But my friend that I wrote it with, we just loved it so much. It’s got a nice vibe to it. But ultimately, it’s about trying to get rid of a stalker.” “John Doe” “‘John Doe’ is about someone that you meet and you have that instant connection, but you don’t want to say anything or do anything. It’s about wanting to go to that person and know more about them and see if there’s something there but [you’re] a bit hesitant.” “Sorrento” “David is my papa. A year before he passed I said, ‘For my wedding present I would love for you to write me your life story.’ And he wrote that for me. I just thought I’d share a little memory of him, and now it will be there forever.” “Need You to Love Me” “It starts a bit more vulnerable. It starts like you’re right there, I’m right there in front of you, singing about a relationship and the struggles of that. And then it turns into a little bit more of an upbeat kind of [song]. This album is the only time I’ve ever written about love. It’s really also about the struggles in relationships. It’s almost like I’m trying to convince myself, ‘Do I deserve better?’ Which is so vulnerable to say.” “Only One” “I was going through such a hard time when I wrote this song—serious heartbreak. And I couldn’t write anything. I was just so sad. I wanted to be so angry, but the chorus is [saying], ‘I still think that you’re the one for me.’ Which is the head fuck about it. ‘I have so much love for you, this is so hard.’” “Live Without Your Love” “This one was written a long time ago. This is about my friend; she is so happy. I realised the friendship that she gives me is so important. It helps me become a better person; it helps me see the brighter sides. If I was running around with another pessimist, then I would be doubling down on myself. And so it ended up being ‘we’re never going to be the same person, but I love you for that. And I can’t live without your love.’” “Call My Name” “I realised I had a lot of vulnerability in the album. So I wanted to have that more four-to-the-floor moment, just to showcase that a little bit more. I haven’t got a big, long story about the lyrics; it’s two professional songwriters [Watson and Jenna Andrews] in a room writing a pop song. And that is what that is.”