Tamino teams up with songwriting idol Mitski for new single ‘Sanctuary’

Tamino has joined forces with none other than Mitski for his latest track ‘Sanctuary’ - a stirring, heartstring-tugging duet that sees the two come together in harmonic poetry over the course of six different verses. 

The latest single to be lifted from Tamino’s new album ‘Every Dawn’s A Mountain’ (due out on 21st March via erēmia/Communion Records), ‘Sanctuary’ was initially born after Mitski invited him on her North American tour in early 2024. The two sowed the seeds of a collaborative song, and eventually they set a date to lay down the track.

“Two weeks before our scheduled studio session, I had doubts about whether the current song was suitable enough for a duet,” Tamino has explained. “I teamed up with my friend Alessandro Buccellati (SZA, Arlo Parks) at my place in New York City, where, in the wake of my doubts, we wrote the music of ‘Sanctuary’ in a few hours. The next morning I wrote the lyrics, recorded a small demo, and sent it to Mitski, who loved it and, like me, preferred it to the other song. I asked her if she thought changes in the lyrics were necessary, but she liked it as it was. Two weeks later she came to the studio, where she wrote beautiful harmonies and recorded her part in half a day.”

Continuing, he shares: “I usually write in solitude and only let other people in much later in the process when the songs already have a form. Collaborating with Alessandro has been a revelation in the sense that for the first time I feel like songwriting as a duo results in songs that I feel are worth releasing. On this album, ‘Sanctuary’ is the only track fully birthed from this working dynamic. It’s also the final addition to the record. These things, combined with the fact that the song features a second voice on what is otherwise a very personal record, make the track a bit of an outlier. Still, it feels like an essential track on this album. Apart from that, it’s also a pinch me moment every time I hear Mitski’s voice soaring over ‘Sanctuary’.” 

Check out the finished product for yourself here: