Seamus Fogarty

Seamus Fogarty shares video for ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’, new album ‘The Curious Hand’ out now

Shares video for ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’ – watch here
New album The Curious Hand out now

“If I knew of any other artists like Seamus Fogarty, I would say his combination of heartbreaking melodies and hilarious-yet-moving lyrics sets him apart from them” Jon Hopkins

“Captivating” Q 4*
“Gritty, poetic electronic folk. A real original” The Observer 4*
“Storytelling troubadour and electronica maverick” Uncut
“A treasure trove of noises and stories from a man with plenty to say” The Irish Times 4*

Last week, Seamus Fogarty released his new album The Curious Hand – his first for new label home Domino.

Today, he shares the video for ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’, a plaintively gentle masterpiece splicing together philosophical musings on a niggling ear infection alongside stoney-faced rush hour commuters. Directed by James Hankins, Hankins says of making the video “Seamus and I both agreed it should be quite playful and dreamlike. It borrows a lot from my favourite artists, comedians and filmmakers who made a big impression on me while growing up. I think it’s the kind of video i would have made when i was 18 or so, if i could have managed it back then. So it’s quite nice thinking that i’ve made something for my younger self.”

Seamus adds “working with James was both exciting and nerve-racking – his imagination is quite frightening but in the best possible way”

Watch the ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’ video HERE

Stream ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’ HERE

Produced by Seamus and Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Wild Beasts), The Curious Hand elevates Fogarty into another bracket of artists doing fascinatingly skewed and modern and heartfelt things with roots-influenced and electronic music. He’s an evocative and thoughtful lyricist and melodicist as well as an inquisitive sonic explorer for fans of Alasdair Roberts, Will Oldham and Kieran Hebden.

The Curious Hand follows his debut full-length God Damn You Mountain (Fence/Lost Map) and 2015’s EP Ducks and Drakes. It is available to purchase on limited-edition yellow coloured vinyl, standard vinyl, CD and digitally.  Buy: JB Hi-Fi| Digital | Stream

Upcoming live dates
14th Oct – Daylight Music @ Union Chapel, London
21st Oct – Ritual Union Festival, Oxford
3rd November – Christ Church, Castlebar
8th November – The Workmans Club, Dublin
9th November – Roisin Dubh, Galway
10th November – Phil Grimes, Waterford
11th November – Kasbah Social Club, Limerick
12th November – The Roundy, Cork
21st November – The Canteen, Bristol
22nd November – The Basement, York
23rd November – The Lamplight Club @ The Regather Works, Sheffield
24th November – The Hug & Pint, Glasgow
25th November – High & Lonesome Festival, Leeds
26th November – The Prince Albert, Brighton

Seamus Fogarty Online:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Seamus Fogarty shares new single ‘Heels Over Head’ Album ‘The Curious Hand’ out Friday 6th October 2017

Ahead of the release of his second album The Curious Hand next month, Irish alt-folk and electronica alchemist Seamus Fogarty shares new track ‘Heels Over Head’.

Produced by Seamus and Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Wild Beasts), The Curious Hand elevates Fogarty into another bracket of artists doing fascinatingly skewed and modern and heartfelt things with roots-influenced and electronic music. He’s an evocative and thoughtful lyricist and melodicist as well as an inquisitive sonic explorer for fans of Alasdair Roberts, Will Oldham and Kieran Hebden.

This can be heard in the unabashed romanticism of ‘Heels Over Head’ as Seamus sings over droning wheezes and field recordings.

Watch the ‘Heels Over Head’ visualiser HERE

Stream ‘Heels Over Head’ HERE

The visualiser features characters from the artwork that Fogarty drew himself.

Originally from County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland, Fogarty now resides in London, and the capital provides the canvas for The Curious Hand. It’s there in the starkly heartbroken ‘Seems Wherever’, written from the perspective of the tube system and the deep well of the city’s troubled soul, and in the stony-faced rush hour commuters in ‘Van Gogh’s Ear’, pouring onto train carriages “bound for Egham or Whimple or West Ham”. But The Curious Hand also reaches back to Seamus’ homeland and past in charmingly simple and direct ways. Midway through the title track, for instance, a sampled conversation between neighbours back in Mayo takes centre stage as the musicians set off down yet another new musical path. Elsewhere, on ‘Tommy the Cat’, a skeletal instrumental becomes a bed for a recording of a shouting competition in the West of Ireland.

Fogarty’s method of lifting sounds wholesale from his environment and tucking them into the folds of his songs like keepsakes, renders himself at once, artist and archivist as well as twisting the notion of the folk singer’s role as collector and custodian of stories, traditions and cultural curio.

The Curious Hand – released Oct 6th – is Fogarty’s first album for Domino and follows his debut full-length God Damn You Mountain (Fence/Lost Map) and 2015’s EP Ducks and Drakes. Seamus previously shared ‘Short Ballad For A Long Man’ – watch the video here –  and ‘Carlow Town’ from the forthcoming record – watch the video here.

Upcoming live dates
4th October – Old Queen’s Head, London
21st Oct – Ritual Union Festival, Oxford
3rd November – Christ Church, Castlebar
8th November – The Workmans Club, Dublin
9th November – Roisin Dubh, Galway
10th November – Phil Grimes, Waterford
11th November – Kasbah Social Club, Limerick
12th November – The Roundy, Cork
21st November – The Canteen, Bristol
22nd November – The Basement, York
23rd November – The Lamplight Club @ The Regather Works, Sheffield
24th November – The Hug & Pint, Glasgow
25th November – High & Lonesome Festival, Leeds
26th November – The Prince Albert, Brighton 

The Curious Hand is available to pre-order on limited-edition yellow coloured vinyl, standard vinyl, CD and digitally.  Pre-order: Physical | Digital

Seamus Fogarty Online:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Image credit : Brian Whar