Dimple Discs (who have released ground-breaking Irish music from Telefis, Cathal Coughlan, Keeley, Eileen Gogan with Sean O’Hagan, and more) have just released a new single from revered Irish composer/musician Ger Eaton.
A multi-Instrumentalist, songwriter, hair stylist and retro-vintage aficionado, this iconic and stylish gentleman is most recently known as keyboardist/guitarist for Dublin alt-rock heroes The Pale. Indeed, Ger has been a mainstay of the Irish music scene for many years as a member of Premonition (EMI), Las Vegas Basement (Columbia), Les Marionettes, Pugwash, The Carnival Brothers and many solo and collaborative recordings. Throughout this time he also recorded and toured extensively with, among others, Mundy, Duke Special, Jack L and Fionn Regan, playing everywhere from Glastonbury Festival to the ‘Later With Jools Holland’ TV Show.
“Home Again” continues to explore Ger’s fascination with and mastery of retro-60s influenced chamber pop styles, first illustrated on his debut EP “Three By Ger Eaton” in November 2021. On the creation of the new single Ger notes…
“Hal David once wrote the words A House is Not a Home…well “Home Again” came from that same feeling, when you don’t feel at home in the house and life in which you’re living. It’s a song about the breakdown of a relationship, the changing dynamics and impact that has on a friendship, and ultimately the acceptance of facing a new journey to feel ‘Home Again’.
It was originally written in early 2021, before the release of “Hollow”, and my demo from that time took it in a very Eastern musical direction. When “Hollow” was received so well on its release, and certain musical influences and references were aligned with it, I felt that the direction “Home Again” had taken would have been too big a change in direction. So I decided to park it for a while longer. But I always felt it was a strong song, with an honest and raw lyric. So when I revisited it after the releases of “Phoenix (Reborn)” in 2022, I began work on the orchestral arrangement and it took on a new and exciting direction for me. I had been listening to a lot of John Barry at the time, and decided to try to infuse some of his spirit amongst the original eastern palate created by my Tablas, Sitar, Saz & Ra-ba-ba….
As always, the song was crafted with my musical collaborators Sean Coleman & Duncan Maitland, in Sean’s workshop/studio. Duncan brought his skills on 12 and 6 string guitars, as well as Baritone and Bass, with some Mellotron thrown in for good measure. I added to my Eastern Sonics with my newly acquired Xylophone and Timpani Drums, as well as various Percussion Toys, Mellotron and Solinas Organ. Sean chose the perfect cocktail from his collection of Vintage Microphones, Compressors & Tape Delays, to formulate that authentic sound we were going for. This time we were joined by the following family and friends…Graham Hopkins (Therapy?, Dolores O’Riordan, The Frames) on Drums, Ronan Dooney (The Corrs, Paul Brady) on Trumpets & Flugelhorn, my classically trained sister Maura Eaton, on backing vocals, and a great friend & solo artist Marie Thérèse, adding a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ with some French spoken word.
The video was filmed using two continuous shots, captured simultaneously by myself and Graham, on Dublin’s Georges Street. I’m very proud of this one. The one thing ‘Home Again’ certainly is…? Straight from the heart.”
“A beautiful slice of Scott Walker-esque pop” – Mike Scott (The Waterboys)
“Ger’s music serves both as a fillip on dark mornings and a lustrous affirmation that the acceptance of the onward passage of time need not be a distressing feeling” – Cathal Coughlan
“Hollow could be one of those ‘undiscovered’ Beach Boys tracks that seem to surface every 6 months or so, trust me here, this song is going to make your day” – Pat Carty (Hot Press)
“Hollow takes you to a very special place…there’s shades of Jimmy Webb, a taste of Prefab Sprout, but still distinctively Ger Eaton, a beautiful piece of music” – Martin Bridgeman (KCLR Radio)
“Hollow is beautiful…The world will be hearing a lot more from him” – Fiachna Ó Braonáin (RTE Radio1)
“Virtually everything at play here is top notch. The mix is rich, and considering how many elements there are, surprisingly clean” – Two Story Melody (USA)
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