Tom John Hall is a superbly talented singer-songwriter with a unique point of view. I featured his previous release ‘Who’s Watching You?‘ in Tracks of the Week and called it “A classic sing-a-long in a bar type of track with interesting, provocative lyrics designed to make you think about the moral ambiguity of the conservative political mindset. The track is strung along by a piano and drum kit that gives it a very ‘live’ feeling and the vocal is drowsy and charming. It all conjures up a feeling of sitting in a bar listening to a half-cut showman singing his heart out, or maybe I’m just desperate to go to a gig”.
Following on from that release, I am excited to share the exclusive first listen to his new track ‘DfT’ taken from the upcoming LP My Big Album Part 2. It’s a stark contrast from the previous release, with grand swirling arpeggiating synths and upbeat drums but carries that unique Tom John Hall personality and charm. On discussing the track he said:
“‘DfT‘ is one of many songs on the album written from the perspective of a character, this one being an anxious civil servant suffering from imposter syndrome. I wrote it while I was working at Westminster, recording the audio for select committees, and the idea for writing a song about a made-up government department came while I was wandering the area finding obscure government offices, but it’s inspired by a bunch of experiences drifting around offices in Central London around the time – all very corporate environments. I think a lot of the worst of what people put up with in that world happens because of this pressure not to get caught out. It’s a real shame, and it doesn’t have to be that way. But I had a lot of fun making this track – there’s this bare-boned quality to the drums and the bass which gave me some space to get slightly chaotic with the synths, I was inspired a lot by Yellow Magic Orchestra and Devo in that respect.”
Listen to the track below, ‘DfT‘ by Tom John Hall releases on 27/08/20 via Year of Glad:
