James Hoare of Veronica Falls, Ultimate Painting and The Proper Ornaments has a new solo project called Penny Arcade and is gearing up to release his debut album. It’s titled “Backwater Collage” and will be out May 3rd via Tapete, It is his first new music in four years.
James Hoare said about the Track: “Don’t Cry No Tears” was one of the last songs written for the record. I had the chord sequence knocking around for awhile then one day I realised what the song was about and wrote the lyrics down quickly. The lyrics are partly self referential and in part a message to someone else. My friend Toby Kidd played guitar on the track and helped with the arrangement. I used a guiro effect on a late 70’s Roland drum machine and built the song around that. The initial recording was done over the space of a couple of hours with the end section done later on, layering up organs and guitars.”
Both “Don’t Cry No Tears” and the album’s opening track, “Jona,” are warm, melodic and gently psychedelic, and if you have liked any of Hoare’s other projects you’ll dig this.
Hailing from a place of ancient mariners’ secret coves and vast moors beaten by the wind and rain, “Backwater Collage” is James Hoare’s first solo album under the name of Penny Arcade. Despite leaving London for the West country he grew up in, the Englishman is no stranger to the scene.
For this dreamy, hand-stitched record, Hoare has taken his time. Maybe because he had to rescue his songs from various recording sessions tinged with a number of mishaps he amusedly admits he is accustomed to: broken multitracks, failing tape machines, rarely available drummers living in the capital. The eleven intimate and solitary songs which make up the album, delivered in the greatest home recording tradition, are nonetheless cautiously produced. James unfurls pure, uncluttered melodies in which his gentle, melancholic voice mingles with smooth, warm vocals by Nathalia Bruno. Barely saturated guitar solos sometimes disrupt the clear, unpolished musical line. Hopping onboard, longtime friend Max Claps has added keyboard parts which manage to embrace the minimal nostalgia of the tracks while preventing any teary pathos. Similar to Jack Name or Syd Barrett – only less psychedelic – in terms of songwriting and stripped back atmosphere, Hoare is sitting on the Velvet Underground’s black-and-white sofa and gives his album a subterranean feel.
At times restless but light-footed, deprived of any unnecessary effects, the record follows in the steps of a less noisy but just as raw and unadorned Jesus and Mary Chain. With “Backwater Collage”, alone at the helm under a stormy sky, James Hoare invites his listeners to settle in the sheltered comfort of a cup of tea.
Track is taken from the upcoming album “Backwater Collage” out May 3rd 2024!
The Fat Angel Sings 