Today we're featuring the most recent release from our friend Tom Crouch, also known as Liminal, who is breaking the singer-songwriter mold with his empathetic and heart-wrenching music.
His latest release "Inner Talk/Over Thought" is a wonderfully haunting song full of complex melodies accompanied by skillful guitar playing.
Tom is someone that understands the balance of the instrument that he's working with. As a great songwriter, he knows that melody is king, but he uses rhythm and dynamics to make the lyrics even more powerful. Due to his awareness and experience, he's able to use his instrumentalist side to write songs that communicate his emotion, rather than show off only his technical ability.
As you listen to "Inner Talk/Over Thought" you can hear the vocal and guitar dance around each other creating a beautifully intriguing piece. One is never in the way of the other, they dance hand in hand. It's a relationship, a partnership, and a conversation.
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"The initial riff from “Inner Talk/Over Thought” came out of a jam session I had with a good friend of mine, a fantastic pedal-steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte. We set up in this old room that looks down on the infamous Denmark Street in Central London, with the one goal being to start making noise as soon as possible and just meandering along with the music. And within about fifteen minutes of making sounds, I started to play a riff that ended up being the genesis of what became “Inner Talk/Over Thought”.
I knew after coming up with the riff that it was something to behold and really cherish, and I knew I had to let it steep until I came around to a lyrical theme that was lofty enough to match with the guitar part. So on went months and months of playing the riff a bunch on all kinds of guitars, in all kinds of different tunings to start to develop lyrical ideas.
After several months slogging away at the skeleton of the song, trying to get strong enough lyrics, I then took it to my producer, Jon Joseph, with the skin and bones being the guitar riff, chords, and melody. And from there on out we built this huge, existential hot mess of a sound that then informed the rest of the record."
– Liminal
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It's amazing what a jam session can provoke, but it takes a special artist to source out the best parts – and then be able to polish the idea into a completely finalized recording. We're thrilled to have Tom in our Orangewood community, as his music has inspired us from the beginning.
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Follow Liminal on Instagram @liminalofficial
Liminal on Spotify
Liminal on Apple Music
