Tom Hingley launched his The Grand Mal album with an intimate set at The Castle Hotel in Manchester on Friday night. Performing the album in full with a band in tow he demonstrated that whilst fame and fortune might not last forever songwriting talent does with one of the finest collections of songs of his career to date. Support came from Harrison Rimmer.
The term journeyman musician is probably not the most flattering, but as Harrison Rimmer tells stories between songs of the inspirations behind them, he certainly has been on many journeys as he's navigated his way from Fleetwood to York via far-flung places as distant as the Australian outback. There's nothing journeyman about his music though, delivered with a passion that still burns bright. Playing tracks from his debut album Larkholme as well as new tracks from his forthcoming second album including recent single Tough Love he captures, and, increasingly rarely for solo supports as audience entitlement takes over from courtesy and listening, holds the attention of the crowd with both the quality of his songwriting craft and the energy, love and belief in what he's doing.
Early career success can be an albatross for musicians as they seek to make a lifelong career out not just performing music but continuing to scratch the creative itch by writing new material inspired by what's going on now rather than when both performer and audience were younger and more carefree. Nostalgia is the biggest barrier to new music being heard for both established artists as well as new ones trying to forge their way in the business. When an artist is creating some of the best, if not the best, music of their career at an advanced age, it can be even more inhibitive in getting it heard.
The Grand Mal, which Tom performs in full with his band tonight, is one of the finest records that Tom Hingley has put his name to, including those big-selling albums with Inspiral Carpets. Written and recorded in lockdown and the period thereafter, the three years it's taken to release it is indicative of those aforementioned problems as he references the cost of putting it out into the world independently.
Tom has put together a band for these shows (Ste on guitar, Elliot on drums, Lee on keyboards and Philip on bass). Formed of friends, colleagues in his Karpets band that play Inspirals classics, they gel wonderfully as they recreate these songs together in front of a crowd for the first time as a whole. They paint the canvas for the songs but allow Tom to showcase his voice sounding as fine as it ever has.
These songs feel like they've been written for where he is now, how his voice has changed over the years and where his head space is. There's a richness, depth of expression and feeling to all eleven songs from the record that can be heard in his voice as the audience give them the due respect they deserve and there's no calls at all for songs from his past.
It's hard to pick a highlight from the set, but pushed we'd go for the emotional White Feathers which touches on the loss of family and Another Bird On The Wire, the one song that gets played out of order as the lyrics aren't printed in Tom's book of them that sits on his stand so it's added back into the set later than the running order on the record. There isn't a weak track though as Turnstile completes a thoroughly enjoyable fifty minute set which reminds us that reminds us that real artists continue to create magic even when the focus of the media has long moved on.
Tom’s famously never ending tour continues in various guises this autumn, including tribute band shows with the Kar-Pets, solo shows and some special album launch shows at Camden Dingwalls 2 (October 3), Witney Fat Lil's (18), Stoke The Artisan (November 18) and Halifax The Grayston Unity (December 6) interspersed with solo shows listed on his website.
Tom Hingley's official website can be found here. He is also on Facebook and Twitter
The album can be ordered here.
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