Xtra Mile Recordings is very pleased to announce the signing of The Lion and the Wolf – tender-voiced songwriter Thomas George. Xtra Mile will release his second album The Cardiac Hotel on 7 October 2016. Preorders are now available on CD and download through our shop or download from iTunes, with digital orders receiving the track ‘Find The Time’ instantly. There are also t-shirt and album bundles available. Watch the lyric video for 'Find The Time' below.
Xtra Mile’s first contact with The Lion and the Wolf was back in 2014 as Rob Lynch’s choice for Xtra Mile High Club Vol.5: Smokin’ (Signed vs Unsigned) where XMR artists chose their favourite unsigned acts to join them on this huge label compilation (buy that here). Impressed by his DIY outlook and mesmeric songs, XMR followed Thomas’s journey up to this point.
Since quitting the kind of life lived by the rest of us in January 2014, Thomas has played over 300 shows, supporting labelmates Rob Lynch, Northcote and PJ Bond, among others, as well as appearing at Slam Dunk, Isle of Wight Festival, 2000trees, Blissfields, Fest and Hevy. He released his debut album Symptoms late 2014, a full-band affair crafted from analogue sounds. Comparisons to Elliot Smith and Simon & Garfunkel followed, as well as more shows and more opportunities to revel in community and friendship.
Second album The Cardiac Hotel was expedited and creatively driven by Thomas's dad getting sick, the songs pouring forth as they tend to do when a loved one's future is uncertain. It's hard not to listen to The Lion and the Wolf's second album and not feel a little of that seismic shift yourself. If you don't feel it in the billowing organ chord that begins 'Don't Fail Me Now', then it'll fill you on 'Myfatherseyes'. The reverb weight blurring the edges, seemingly disintegrating Thomas's voice, brings pathos to the urgent, searing sounds that brew underneath.
Violins, brass and lyrics that break upon the softest ears and hearts like waves, particularly on 'The Pinching Point' (“All the time struggled to breathe, now she doesn't have to grieve at the finish line”), while pianos and seething strings seem to bellow over the gentle finger picking and clicking drums on closer 'Find The Time'.
It feels fragile while wrapping itself in strength of heart, a certain courage needed to bare the soul or strip down to honesty. The Cardiac Hotel is still warm though, never feeling disconnected from the listener, probably because of the lack of digital interference. And that's important because The Lion and the Wolf is all about intimacy and understanding.
You'll never be alone with The Lion and the Wolf, and you'll never have to feel that way now you're part of the pride and pack.
TRACKLISTING
1. Don’t Fail Me Now
2. Heaven Forbid
3. My Father’s Eyes
4. The Hospital Floor
5. Walk On The Moon
6. The Pinching Point
7. Barstools
8. December
9. Past The Point Of Fair
10. Witness
11. Find The Time
"An elegantly understated and wistfully melancholic collection of prime-cut songs in the singer-songwriter vein" – Musical Melting Pot on Symptoms (92%)
“...filled with emotion, beautiful vocals and wonderful melody” - Alt Corner.
"‘Symptoms’ is an accomplished album from one of the most underrated singer-songwriters in the UK today. It’s poignant, mature, and the perfect soundtrack for the long winter ahead” - Punktastic
"A wholly autumnal, acoustic-led slice of melancholy…one of the UK’s most promising singer-songwriters.” – Rock Sound
“Gentle vocals and lilting drive call to mind Elliot Smith and Simon and Garfunkel” - The Independent
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