Ant Thomaz has made his most personal album, and the story behind it is impossible to separate from the music itself. ‘Gaia’ is named after his daughter, a child doctors once warned might face significant learning and physical limitations. Rather than accept that ceiling, Thomaz and his wife built a home around creativity, language, and imagination. Gaia grew up learning Makaton, British Sign Language, English, and Gaelic. Music and storytelling became daily practice. The album that emerged from that experience carries every bit of that weight and warmth.
The Glasgow-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist blends indie folk, soul, and Celtic rock with a storytelling instinct rooted in lived experience. ‘Gaia’ moves between soulful, cinematic arrangements and moments of genuine playfulness, with Thomaz’s reflective lyricism threading the whole record together. The focus track “The Night Is Young” was written after a conversation with a close family mentor facing difficult news, grounded in themes of acceptance and the value of staying present. “Believe” became a direct collaboration with his daughter, who helped shape its melodies as it took form.
Running through the album is a lesson Thomaz received as a teenager from a mentor, the story of the eagle and the crow: rather than fighting negativity, the eagle simply flies higher until the crow can no longer follow. That philosophy, “soar higher, son,” sits at the centre of everything on ‘Gaia.’ Thomaz puts it plainly: “It’s about seeing the full humanity in people that society often overlooks. We didn’t just want Gaia to survive. We wanted her to soar.”
Thomaz began his musical life busking on Glasgow streets and has since shared stages with Starsailor, Eddi Reader, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Kool and The Gang, and Big Country, among others. He has received spins on BBC 6 Music and performed at Celtic Connections, Belladrum, and Edinburgh Fringe. ‘Gaia’ is his most fully realized work yet.