Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
The Adventures of Tom the Lion - Chapters 1 & 2 - vinyl only Ep - April 2011
The Adventures of Tom the Lion - Chapters 3 & 4 - vinyl only Ep - Oct 2011
The Adventures of Tom the Lion - CD Compilation, with bonus disc of solo live performance - Nov 2011
'Assurance' airplay on Radio 1 in May 2011
BBCR1 Maida Vale session broadcast May 2011
Photos
Bio
Tom the Lion is a musical polymath.
A young Londoner, he writes, plays and produces every note of his material – a uniquely rich and varied tapestry of sonics and songs.
At the tail-end of 2010, a debut double 10” vinyl ep, entitled ‘The Adventures of Tom the Lion’, was delivered unassumingly into Rough Trade Shops. Framed as the first two chapters of a greater story, it sold out instantly. The next two chapters of his Adventures were similarly released in 2011 in another collectors vinyl edition. These eps were then compiled into a beautiful wooden CD box set and presented as Rough Trade Shops’ Album of the month for November 2011. It included a second disc, documenting a live solo performance recorded in Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire. Without a note of promotion, an unprecedented 2000 boxes were sold through Rough Trade within the first month. The Album was voted Rough Trade’s No 23 Album of 2011.
To date, Tom has maintained a strange mystique. With his records only available in Rough Trade and a website (www.tomthelion.co.uk) focusing entirely on his songs, he has not courted any critical attention, preferring to build chatter amongst vinyl collectors who cherish such an enigmatic approach. Yet Huw Stephens and Rob Da Bank picked up and played his first release on Radio 1. Tom recorded a Maida Vale Session for Rob Da Bank, broadcast in May 2011. Meantime, a live performance Tom playing 'Ragdoll' from the Abbey session, has provoked genuine ardour on YouTube.
Tom's scarce live appearances in 2011 culminated in a sold-out headline show at Old St Pancras Church, in December 2011, promoted by Live Nation. Since then he has been playing intimate solo shows, whilst writing and recording his debut album. Before the close of 2012, he debuted the new songs at a headline show within his band at the Sebright Arms in London, promoted by Communion, before headlining the Ventnor Fridge Festival on the Isle of Wight.
He has since played a few London shows as both a full band or alone with guitar and piano.
‘The Adventures of Tom the Lion’ remains a collectors’ treasure. It was made available in the US for the first time as an exclusive on Record Store Day this year.
Tom’s immaculate debut Album arrives in the UK on a major label in January 2014, heralded by a first single ‘Sleep’, with a US launch scheduled for May.
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