BOXING CLEVER: Tom McShane
Genre: Indie / Alternative
From: Belfast, Northern Ireland United Kingdom

Tom Mcshane is a singer songwriter from Northern Ireland who takes you on a tour of his emotions with his heart firmly pinned to his sleeve. Like a mellow, melancholic David Ford or Will Oldham if he’d been brought up on the streets of Belfast instead of Kentucky Tom reaches right into your chest tugging at your heart and leaving you breathless. Such honesty is rare in a scene that emphasises style and fashion over passion and should be treasured by anyone with a passion for music.

Tom has recently released a single, ‘Fighter’, a lo-fi tale of a son following his boxing father into the ring. ‘Fighter’ was released as a split 7″ single with fellow Belfastians, the altogether more mainstream sounding indie pop trio Escape Act (of which more tomorrow).

If you’ve grown tired of run of the mill singer songwriters like David Gray then Tom McShane has arrived to restore your faith.

Thank you kindly, sir!

Tom

TOM MCSHANE – FIGHTER – PENNY DISTRIBUTION

Slow burning lament, touched with melancholy and exploding into falsetto when the emotion calls for it, a touching song from an artist with a pure soul…

Jeremy Chick, Subba-cultcha.com, July 2008

Thanks, Jeremy!

Tom 

‘FIGHTER’ (Penny Distribution)

Spot of lo-fi alt country from Northern Ireland, anyone? Tom McShane channels the likes of Uncle Tupelo and Smog on this great track, which eloquently tells the story of a boxer’s inner conflict. Only deep martial drums resonate beneath McShane’s timeless voice for much of the track, with a simple but devastatingly effective little guitar lick cropping up every now and then too. An extremely promising taster.

Stephen Errity // Hot Press // Volume 32, Issue 13 // 16th July 2008

Thanks Stephen!