Written & Performed by Tom Hogan
Produced & Mastered by Nick Franklin
Cover photo by Lucy Parakhina
Mural painted by Robin Martin

Or The Whale

True Enough

Celebratory rock songs, with a musical expertise that can only be described as “chaotic neutral”

Tom Hogan lives and works on Gadigal land, Sydney. Known for his charismatic and mercurial live performances, Hogan’s work has been featured in galleries around the world. This is an artist obsessed with the power of pop culture, leaning into music at every curve, and never shying away from the weird.

His latest offering is the EP Or The Whale - a string of songs taking inspiration from Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris... and Moby Dick. “Reading Moby Dick was a consequence of Sydney lockdown,” according to Hogan. “... But rather than discuss themes in a book club, I found myself writing guitar solos, and belting out a chorus!”

The EP covers a lot of ground in six songs, all swaying and evoking the frenzy of the high seas. The standout track, A Night in a Hotel, is joyously explosive and dirty love song. True Enough throws vocoders and guitars behind ye olde language quirks. These give way to tragic ballads with a sea shanty twist (A Stove Boat Song), or desperate calls for connection, floating out to sea, with baritone country-guitar codas (Darling I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye), folky nylon guitar instrumentals (Footfall) and character studies in lo-fi soundscapes (Melville Lane). This is an EP full of storytelling theatrics, revelling in blending genres and sounds.

Previously, Hogan has been prolific around the Australian music scene for over 10 years, alongside artists such as Polish Club (their moral conscience and producer of Polish Club’s Sophomore Slump) and Elana Stone of All Our Exes Live In Texas (co-creating the musical Mount Hopeless). Hogan’s previous projects include Obscure Music History, where he produced and performed 45 songs - from jazz standards to symphonic metal, acoustic folk to Christmas ballads - and the accompanying podcast was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards. His nationally touring show Love Song Dedications (without Richard Mercer), created with artist Bonnie Leigh-Dodds, was nominated for two Green Room Awards, and showed his passion for disseminating classic love songs. This is an unpredictable musician, with an expertise that can only be described as “chaotic neutral”.

All songs on Or The Whale were written and performed by Tom Hogan
Produced and Mastered by Nick Franklin
Cover artwork by Anna Louise Richardson
Singles: A Night In A Hotel, and True Enough
Digital Release date: Friday 12 November, 2021

Melville Lane

Darling I Don't Wanna Say Goodbye

The Stove Boat Song

Footfall

Adult Fantasy

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

Elvis

Outside Overture

The road by the airport is silent at night
Those low wattage globes don’t emit much red light
Against the deep navy sky
As the dashboard reminds us of the time
Speakers are rattling but the radio’s off
I just keep thinking about how much we’ve lost
And how much I’ve changed
since howling on the rooftop parking lot

We haven’t told anyone yet

Shifting to the left lane, feel the seat sinking
Holding my breath, not saying, not thinking
Enjoy the warm quiet
Of heading home
Orange light glows on our faces before changing
With my hand on your knee, reaching over awkwardly
Your hand's on my hand
No need to marry

We haven't told anyone yet

The still air breaks suddenly and there’s snot on my sleeve
Let the sound hang inbetween us like a sigh on the breeze
From a long day last year when neither of us believed
That anyone had ever been blessed
But “Bless you” I said as the streets became familiar
Though it sounds hopeful, or ominous, doesn’t it?
Until you see this happy emptiness
It's the best that we’ve felt all year

I ain't got nothing but you can always have half
We tried to build her to last
Try again, but my arm's in a cast
I ain't got nothing but you can always have half

We haven’t told anyone yet
We haven’t told anyone yet
Enjoy the quiet in our head
We haven't told anyone yet
We haven’t told anyone yet
We haven't told

Anyone

Don't look up
You'll see it isn't gold
You can grow up, still
It withers in the cold

I'm on call
And just one room away
My weight and my wet
Can clean your face

Leave the door open
Keep the floorboards clear
To hear a reassuring click and clack
On my way to let you know

Open up
I'm here now
All silver linings wear away with time
                             and space
                             and use
                             and plum
But I'm infinite for you

Pine, Bamboo and Plum

Pine, Bamboo, and Plum

Muhammad Ali

Loved, Then Lost

Emergency Contact

Harvey

It's the bristling under bare feet that gets me
Moving in the grass
Deep in your bones
My bimonthly fix of having to leave the room
Another whisper from Ali
A left hook stings like a bee

I can come to terms with letting you down
Tyre wheels wedged on your own driveway, what's that sound?
Turn around

But this isn't going to work
Dancing all over town
Your head plays a long dull beat
From when you hit it on the sink
You're all calling back to me
Cicadas in the trees

I lost your voice on a phone update
In a parking lot of a small town fast food chain
What a place
Nothing hits harder than grief

But this isn't going to work
Dancing all over town
Your head plays a long dull beat
From when you hit it on the sink
You're all calling back to me
Cicadas in the trees

This isn't going to work
I heard he couldn't speak
Your head plays a long dull beat
From when you hit it on the sink
Can't see you calling me
Cicadas in the trees

But it floats like a butterfly

An investigative journalist stumbles upon a seemingly unsolvable mystery. As the clues start to unravel, the mystery behind the Swedish company deepens, and the value of truth will finally be settled.

Produced by Tom Hogan

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This piece was produced by Tom Hogan, as part of The 24-Hour Radio Race from KCRW's Independent Producer Project.

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I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm sure doing a lot of it. Music, sound art, writing, podcasts, comedy, theatre and the occasional existential crisis, living and working on Bidjigal Land.

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