A Chat with Partland (19.08.24)
Performing under the moniker Partland, singer-songwriter Thomas Partland is known for his soul-stirring, genre-diverse, heartwarming music. We came across the Irish artist in 2021 with his single ‘After The Movie‘, and today we take a moment to speak with Partland about his new album The Empty Atlantic, music videos and more.
OSR: Cliché but what drew you to music? Why did you decide to pursue a career in music?
Partland: I grew up in a very rural area where everyone played sport, but I just wasn’t very good, unfortunately. It wasn’t until I was 12 that I heard ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana on the radio and was like wow, I want to do that! So then I formed a band with my friends before any of us knew how to play or even owned an instrument. My parents bought me a guitar and I never looked back. I guess I was looking for my thing as a kid and music became that thing.
OSR: You recently released your album The Empty Atlantic. What can you tell us about it? Is there a backstory or theme?
Partland: Robert Kelly, a Canadian producer, moved to Ireland for a summer to work on my friend Pa Reidy’s album. We hit it off too and he offered to record with me as well. We recorded 6 songs over the summer with the view of it being an EP. A year later he very kindly offered to put me up for a week back home in Newfoundland, Canada and record 4 more songs to make it an album. I had plans to release it but had to delay it because of the pandemic, and over the course of that time, I had written some new songs that I wanted to include, but because of the uncertainty in the world at the time, I couldn’t travel over to Robert. So I got in touch with Dave Skelton on the recommendation of a lot of musician friends, and we worked on the new material.
It was a long road to get it to a finished product, but between all the sessions on both sides of the Atlantic, the album came to exist. I was so lucky to get the chance to record with so many amazing musicians here and in Canada and work with 2 extraordinary creative talents Rob and Dave, it was a wonderful experience. The theme of the album The Empty Atlantic is hope. Even though the songs are quite sad for the most part, I’d to think of them more as hopeful than anything else.
OSR: What do you hope people take from The Empty Atlantic? Also, what does the album mean to you?
Partland: I think writing about heartbreak is the easiest thing to write about, a listening to sad songs is one of the things that helps me most in those situations. So if anything on this album could help someone going through something similar and find some strength, I would feel a lot of catharsis in that. For me, it bookends a period of my life and scrapbooks some of the not-so-great moments, but it’s the turning of these moments into art and something that makes it a positive and something to grow from.
OSR: If you had to change anything about the album, what would it be and why?
Partland: The album was done in parts over five years or so, so I feel I’ve got all the tweaks out of my system. I’m very happy with what I’ve come out with as a piece of work, so I don’t think there’s anything substantial I would change.
OSR: Is The Empty Atlantic a true representation of your sound at the moment?
Partland: When I perform live, I play on my own, just me and the guitar. But on the album, everything is fleshed out and big. I guess that’s how the songs exist in my head, and when in the studio it’s hard to resist the urge to add layers and other instruments and colours and make everything very rich and full, but live I like to play them bare bones.
OSR: You released a video for your lead single, ‘Conduit’. What can you tell us about making the video? What were the pros and cons of the experience?
Partland: I made the video for ‘Conduit’ in my kitchen during the lockdown. Learning to make stuff motion animations was something I did myself during this time. A pro would be just what you can achieve with just some paper and coloring pencils! A con would be that it is such a laborious and painstaking process, this one took probably about 80 hours to make it all in! I would say the experience was both infuriating and rewarding, but mostly rewarding.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Partland: Music it’s just so important to me. It has got me through tough times both as a listener and as a creator. It has brought me to places I may never have been and met people I may never have met. Life is much richer for it.
OSR: What makes you unique as an artist?
Partland: I like to combine my music with my art, so with the music videos I make I’m able to create a visual as well as the soundtrack of my songs. I don’t think a lot of people do that, so maybe that’s something that makes me unique.
OSR: If you had to recommend one song from your album to a new listener, which would it be and why that track?
Partland: I think the album it’s quite varied, so I think I would tailor a recommendation to the taste of a particular person and what they’re into. But I think ‘Hope to Love Again’ would be the one I recommend most often, it is definitely the one on the album that seems to resonate most with people.
OSR: What can we expect from Partland in the future?
Partland: I will be drip-feeding the music videos for the remaining songs periodically and hopefully will be announcing some gigs to promote the album in the near future.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Partland: Thank you for reading and hopefully checking out the record! Have a great week!
Many thanks to Partland for speaking with us. Find out more about Partland on his Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
