Next Friday (14th January), marks the release of Overground, the fifth studio album from UK Americana band Police Dog Hogan. This will be their first release since 2017’s highly acclaimed Wild By The Side of the Road and was engineered and produced (with the band) by George Murphy. Although some of the songs were composed before the pandemic struck, we are told that a certain lockdown sensibility pervades others. On Here Comes Crow, for example, James Studholme describes the song as “completely autobiographical”. Below you can watch the brilliantly imaginative video animation for the song made by Jac Clinch whose sci-fi setting captures that sentiment perfectly. It’s a very catchy number featuring some beautiful touches from the band who paint noirish cinematic vistas (enhanced here by the video). Throughout they are incredibly inventive with their playing; this one will stay in your head long after it’s over, their best yet.
James shared the following:
Here Comes Crow starts out with the rhythmic sound of the crow tapping and scratching at the window of my home in Devon. That moment when the dawn turns the windows into mirrors and the crow sees the crow in the mirror as his enemy. And tries to peck his eyes out. This song is about one particular Crow who came back for years and was always one step ahead of me. He woke me every morning at dawn with his tap tap tapping, moving sequentially around the house. It’s a true story. Respect the crow! It’s one of our absolute favourites from the album. Recorded in one long day at Eastcote Studios with George Murphy co-producing with us.
The video was conceived by the brilliant young animator and director Jac Clinch. As an NFTS graduate not only was his craft outstanding but also his attention to story. I wouldn’t let him give the spacemen faces so he had to tell the story in other more subtle ways. I never told him the story behind the song. I left the brief open. Not sure exactly how the Red Planet popped into his head but it just seemed right emotionally and tonally and we worked on the story together. We loved exploring the mythic ancient Crow civilisation. Those early colonisers of the Red Planet. Ancient and Mystical.
The video was produced by Eve Somerville at Blinkink. Big thanks to all at Blinkink for making something so outstanding.
After some re-introductory gigs in 2021, Police Dog Hogan are poised to go back out on tour with Overground, culminating in another homecoming gig at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in May.
More here: https://policedoghogan.com/