TOM HOGAN release EP ‘Or The Whale’ out now!

TOM HOGAN

release

EP

‘Or The Whale’

out now!


Tom Hogan lives and works on Gadigal land, Sydney. Known for his charismatic and mercurial live performances, Hogan’s work has been featured in galleries around the world. This is an artist obsessed with the power of pop culture, leaning into music at every curve, and never shying away from the weird.

 

His latest offering is the EP Or The Whale – a string of songs taking inspiration from Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris… and Moby Dick. “Reading Moby Dick was a consequence of Sydney lockdown,” according to Hogan. “… But rather than discuss themes in a book club, I found myself writing guitar solos, and belting out a chorus!”

 

The EP covers a lot of ground in six songs, all swaying and evoking the frenzy of the high seas. The standout track, A Night in a Hotel, is joyously explosive and dirty love song. True Enough throws vocoders and guitars behind ye olde language quirks.

 

These give way to tragic ballads with a sea shanty twist (A Stove Boat Song), or desperate calls for connection, floating out to sea, with baritone country-guitar codas (Darling I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye), folky nylon guitar instrumentals (Footfall) and character studies in lo-fi soundscapes (Melville Lane). This is an EP full of storytelling theatrics, revelling in blending genres and sounds.

 

Previously, Hogan has been prolific around the Australian music scene for over 10 years, alongside artists such as Polish Club (their moral conscience and producer of Polish Club’s Sophomore Slump) and Elana Stone of All Our Exes Live In Texas (co-creating the musical Mount Hopeless).

 

Hogan’s previous projects include Obscure Music History, where he produced and performed 45 songs – from jazz standards to symphonic metal, acoustic folk to Christmas ballads – and the accompanying podcast was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards.

 

His nationally touring show Love Song Dedications (without Richard Mercer), created with artist Bonnie Leigh-Dodds, was nominated for two Green Room Awards, and showed his passion for disseminating classic love songs. This is an unpredictable musician, with an expertise that can only be described as “chaotic neutral”

 

 

All songs on Or The Whale were written and
performed by Tom Hogan
Produced and Mastered by Nick Franklin
Cover artwork by Anna Louise Richardson

 

Digital Release out now!


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