James Hoare of Veronica Falls, Ultimate Painting and The Proper Ornaments has a new solo project called Penny Arcade and is gearing up to release his debut album. It’s titled Backwater Collage and will be out May 3 via Tapete, and is his first new music in four years.
You can listen to the first two songs on the album now, including the just-released “Don’t Cry No Tears” (which is not a Neil Young cover). “I had the chord sequence knocking around for a while then one day I realised what the song was about and wrote the lyrics down quickly,” James says. “The lyrics are partly self referential and in part a message to someone else. My friend Toby Kidd played guitar on the track and helped with the arrangement. I used a guiro effect on a late 70’s Roland drum machine and built the song around that. The initial recording was done over the space of a couple of hours with the end section done later on, layering up organs and guitars.”
Both “Don’t Cry No Tears” and the album’s opening track, “Jona,” are warm, melodic and gently psychedelic, and if you have liked any of Hoare’s other projects you’ll dig this. Watch the videos for both below.
James will take Penny Arcade on the road later this spring for UK and EU dates. Those are below.
Backwater Collage
1. Jona
2. Don’t Cry No Tears
3. Want You Around
4. Dear John
5. Prodigal Son
6. When The Feeling Is Gone
7. Black Cloud
8. Mr. Softie
9. Dennis
10. Garage Instrumental
11. One More
PENNY ARCADE – 2024 TOUR DATES
May 3rd Totnes (UK), Drift * showcase / release party *
11th Southend on Sea (UK), Twenty-One
12th Amiens (FR), Chez Bertille
13th Angers (FR), Joker’s Pub
14th France TBA
15th Paris (FR), Tony SSD
16th Lyon (FR), Le Sonic
30th Neu-Ulm (GE), Gold
31st Freiburg (GE), Swamp
June 8th Falmouth (UK), The Underland | free entry
21st Coventry (UK), Just Dropped In