Seamus Fogarty will release his new album A Bag Of Eyes on November 6th via Domino Records.
From his stunning debut, God Damn You Mountain, to his last album The Curious Hand (released in 2017), Irish alt-folk and electronica alchemist Seamus Fogarty has ploughed a very personal furrow, unravelling tales like contemporary short stories inspired by a night spent sleeping in a church to London’s tube system and a city’s troubled soul. Underpinning those tales are an incredible array of found sounds snuck into his unique soundscapes like hidden tokens to spark the listener’s subconsciousness.
In three years a lot can happen, but it comes as no surprise, looking at Fogarty’s experimental approach in the past, that he should be seeking a new canvas to paint upon for his third album A Bag Of Eyes. So, weary of the guitar, and seeking something darker than its predecessor, he chose to lean more heavily on synths and drum machines, and additionally, to self-produce. “It was about creating and exploring new sound worlds,” Fogarty says. “Experimenting with new ways of incorporating electronics into the songwriting process, and in some cases dispensing with conventional songwriting processes altogether.”
Maybe the grime and underbelly of the city have seeped into his restless soul reflected in A Bag Of Eyes‘ “industrial judder, slacker-fuzz guitar, a cacophony of saxophones.” Accompanying the album announcement, Fogarty has shared the first single from the album “Johnny K”, which nods to the sometimes uneasy state of an Irishman living in London with its lyric: “His brother died in England building tunnels for the liars and the Cavaliers.” Fogarty explains: “So that’s the Tories. And also the fact that some people in England, they forget how much foreign people have built the country.”
The video for “Johnny K” is directed by Jack Barraclough, who details the concept: “The idea for Johnny K was inspired by a picture of David Cameron relaxing in his £25,000 garden shed. Seamus was looking to steer away from a video set in an Irish pub, and how much further from an Irish folk singer can you get than an English aristocrat? So Johnny K became Jonathan Kingsley and the rest is history! At first, what you see in the video isn’t really matching up with the lyrics, but as Jonathan Kingsley’s world gets turned upside down, the themes of the song and lyrics start to make a lot more sense with the visuals.”
A Bag Of Eyes was recorded across London, Kent and East Sussex and features Fogarty’s partner Emma Smith, Meilyr Jones, long-time collaborators Leo Abrahams, Aram Zarikian & John Fogarty, as well as someone slightly more unexpected, an audience member recorded live at one of Seamus’ gigs in Dublin.
The artwork for A Bag Of Eyes is by songwriter Billy Steinberg (“Like A Virgin”, “Eternal Flame”) and is taken from an illustration of his original lyrics to the Divinyls’ hit “I Touch Myself”.
Tracklisting to A Bag of Eyes
- Shapes
- Old Suit
- Jimmy Stewart
- Wake Up Felix
- Bus Shelter Blues
- Nuns
- Ghosts
- Horse
- Interlude
- Johnny K
- San Francisco
- My Boy Willie
A Bag Of Eyes is available to pre-order on Dom-Mart/indie exclusive coloured vinyl, standard vinyl, CD and digitally. Pre-order: Dom Mart | Digital
Photo credit – Dan Wilton