’Emotional Kaleidoscope' takes StrawMan to a new high

The highly anticipated release of the new Tommy Bonner album 'Emotional Kaleidoscope' is almost upon us.

The Ballybofey singer-songwriter, who uses the stage name StrawMan, succinctly describes it as rockout and upbeat combined with a few slower more melancholic tracks so that the listener can both catch their breath and contemplate.

'Emotional Kaleidoscope' is the eagerly anticipated follow up to 2020's acclaimed 'Fearless' which was described by a stalwart of the music scene as 'the best album from a Donegal artist in years'. Tommy has assured his fans that it is more than a worthy successor.

Tommy’s influences include REM, The Verve/Richard Ashcroft, The War on Drugs, Frightened Rabbit, The Slow Show, Bruce Springsteen, Regina Spector and Biffy Clyro to name but a few.

So far, he has amassed over 300,000 streams on Spotify and N1M and sees this as a solid launch pad for the release of  his latest offering this Friday, November 3.

Tommy first started penning songs while at university in Galway in the mid-90s. He moved to Hungary in 2003 to work as an English tutor. While there, he wrote and recorded his debut album ‘Some Belated Truths’ under the moniker ‘Urban Hermits’.

This was released to a solid reception in 2007. Later that year, the band played the world-famous Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Due to family commitments, Tommy took a long break from music from 2008. ‘Fearless’ (2020) was his second full release.

In April 2021 he was commissioned by Donegal Education Training Board to compose a song for Roddy Doyle’s novel Brilliant. The end of the year saw two new releases including a Christmas single. He belatedly launched ‘Fearless’ in the Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey on December 10 that year with an excellent new band and received an amazing reception.

As with 'Fearless', this latest offering was recorded at Valley Music Studio in Ballybofey and produced by the much respected and innovative Terry McGinty of Valley Music Studio, Ballybofey.

"This latest album was born of rejection. We had been blown out for a few festivals in Donegal that shall remain nameless. I had two choices, to sulk and complain or see the opportunity that had presented itself.

"We were at least three tracks deep into a new album and I had a stack of songs written during the first lockdown. If we cracked on with it, we could have the album finished for Halloween.

"Not only did we have Adrian Harkin (drums and percussion) and Kevin Halpin (bass, keys and guitar) on board  but also wonderful musicians such as Adam Hannigan (guitar),  David Oliver (trumpet), Joanna Harkin (vocals) and Rodney Deery (saxophone) to add a bit more gloss to proceedings. Huge thanks to all of them for being so generous with their time and talent.

"Adrian and Kevin had played on the first three tracks and did brilliantly. You can hear that for yourselves on 'I Can Hear Dan Grimaldi Weeping', 'A Rooster's Step' and 'Krakatoa'. However, due to certain circumstances, it appeared that myself and Terry would have to continue ourselves. We got stuck in from late May onwards.

“We took it one song at a time; '(A Strange Move For A) HomeTown Hero', 'Jump the Shark', 'My Capital', 'Wherever You Go, There You Are', 'Protest by Lullaby' and 'Don't Let The Old Man In'.

"We took each as close to completion as possible and then revisited them later with fresh ears. This has become our modus operandi. Being distant neighbours, Terry and I don't need to do lengthy sessions. We work much better in two-three hour 'Guerilla'-type sessions and post-recording drill; take it home, sleep, rest your ears, listen tomorrow., make a 'hit list' of edits, apply these and move on.

“I think it's a pretty good system."

Terry and Tommy completed the final mix in early October, at this stage, they were both drained emotionally.

He said: ”He is such a brave and innovative producer. Combine that with his incredible musicianship and technical proficiency and it's quite a thing to behold. Finally, he is my dear friend, a great dad and a good man, which is most important of all."

The album is out on CD release on November 10. He has organised two album launches: Friday, November 10 The Alley Theatre,  Strabane (+ Brian Hassan)  and on Saturday, December 16 The Balor Arts Centre Ballybofey (+ Michael Gillespie).