James Tonic is a New York dream pop maker who builds foggy, heart searching music with soft layers and real life stories. He’s got seven albums out, going from  bedroom setups to fuller, more pulling sounds.

His major break came with 2024’s Stuck in LA, an album sketching West Coast lost feelings that got him packed tour stops out there. That opened the door to the Safety trilogy, starting with 2025’s Safety—nine tracks on picking yourself up—and carrying on with 2026’s Safety II, which advances the story with echoing synths, live beats, and dim vibes. Tonic’s words blend inner thoughts with hazy dreams, leading people to small hidden finds. The standout on Safety II, “Girl From Hell (Nobody, Somebody),” shows his approach with its catchy, repeating hook and ideas of fighting back against hurt. With shows on the way and the trilogy’s close ahead, he’s pulling in more folks to the indie dream pop scene.