Tom Moriarty releases first single release Golden Days on 6th August from his long awaited new album The Ballad of the Bravehearts.

Tom Moriarty is a British singer-songwriter who first came to people’s attention with the release of his critically acclaimed 2012 debut album which attracted much media interest, and on hearing the lead single from Tom’s second album, David Crosby commented: “That’s beautiful…real fine, made a good record of it too.”

The acclaimed singer-songwriter returns with the first single Golden Days from a new album entitled The Ballad of the Bravehearts. The release comes after a 4-year absence following the release of the acclaimed live solo acoustic album The Shore which lauded comparisons with John Martyn, Bert Jansch and Ray Lamontagne. 

Recorded at the famous Sawmills studio in South-West England this album sees Tom return to a full band line up for most of the ten tracks on the album, with a sound that reflects the vintage surroundings of the famous Sawmills live rooms and mixing desk.  Sawmills has seen many famous bands record there including The Stone Roses, Oasis, Robert Plant, Ocean Colour Scene, and more recently Ben Howard and Julia and Angus Stone.   

As ever Tom’s beaten-up delivery attracts comparisons with Lamontagne, Vedder and Springsteen but Tom has a voice that is distinctly his own, and one that reflects the journey of a life hard lived.

The album will feature some songs that have travelled a very long way to finally be released to the public, including some that were written when Moriarty was playing the London and Cambridge acoustic folk club circuits in the 90s.  

Things have changed since those early days playing acoustic sets at the famous Marquee club and 12 Bar club in Denmark Street, as has the music business and the way in which people listen to music.  Accordingly this album is going to be released differently compared with previous album releases with the 10 tracks being released consecutively on the first Friday of every month well into next year.   

The first track Golden Days is one of those songs that began life in those early acoustic set days.  Originally it was a faster more intricate solo acoustic track reflecting John Martyn’s influence.  However on its way to Sawmills studios it evolved into a slightly slower folk rock track reminiscent of Springsteen and Petty, giving it a folk rock lilt that will be welcomed on road trips through the heartland states of America where Tom is a attracting an ever growing following.   

A weather-beaten philosophical vocal reflects on the way in which we all sometimes look back and think about having done things differently or other times when we might try to eradicate the past we’d prefer to forget. As an opening track of the album Golden Days sets the tone as to what’s to come in the rest of the album along with a few interesting surprises, some swampy blues rock, some orchestral arrangement and a haunting solo acoustic track to close the album. 

On the production side Moriarty got together once again with long-time collaborator Tristan Longworth who produced the acclaimed album The Road of 2015, and The Shore of 2017.   It was his magic that saw the album blossom from the vintage board mixes of the Sawmills Sessions to the version we hear now reminiscent of a big studio recording such as Ocean Way in L.A. or Abbey Road Studio 2 where Tom recorded his debut album Fire In The Doll’s House. 

It is also a project that comes to being released now as a result of the lockdowns associated with the last 18 months.  As Tom explains, “it’s an album that has been in waiting for a while since I recorded it at Sawmills all those years ago.  Tristan and I had been recording another album for future release which sort of went on the back burner with all that was going on…or not.  So we thought this was a good time to look at the Sawmills sessions.”

Out of those recording sessions 10 songs were decided upon and work began at the beginning of 2021. 

Tom adds, “Man those were dark times, for all of us.  I found it difficult just like everyone else.  As sensitive souls acutely wired creatives we’re prone to all sorts of shit in difficult times, when we can’t do what we’re here for, write, record, perform.  Working on this album helped me get through these hard times.” 

Tom Moriarty online:

http://www.tommoriarty.co.uk / @thetommoriarty / youtube.com/user/officialtommoriarty / facebook.com/thetommoriarty