“Buried in the Hail”, Dom Martin’s third studio album, out on on September 22nd, 2023, was recorded at Golden Egg Studios in Ireland and produced in Dublin by Grammy-Nominated producers Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy and co-produced by Dom Martin. Very much steeped in the Roots, Americana, and the Blues genres, many of the tracks on the new album possess an almost cinematic theme.
Dom admits the new album is the first complete work that he’s recorded which he is 100% happy with and proud to release. Says Dom: “Buried in the Hail” is the kind of album where the more you listen to it, the more you will get out of it”.
Dom explains about “Unhinged”, the first single to be released from the album: “I chose this song as the first single from the album because it was the most difficult and yet most fun one to record mainly because the 5 watt Champ I used was on fire and ready to explode. It sounded great though. A Gibson 339 with these mystery pickups is plugged into that amp, this is the only set up will give you that sound. It is a song about the fakes out there, smiling to your face and crossing your name off papers! You know, them! We are living and working in an unhinged world”.
Watch the official video for “Unhinged” below.
Why the cover of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy”? “When I was a kid, I always loved the song, my Aunt Breda was a Patsy fan, I think I liked it most probably for the key change, I was shocked when I later found out it was written by Willie Nelson, what a guy! This version is how I felt at the time, I had the music and these lyrics just fit in more ways than one
Pre-order “Buried in the Hail” here.
Tracklist:
1. Hello in There
2. Daylight I Will Find
3. Government
4. Belfast Blues
5. Crazy
6. Unhinged
7. The Fall
8. Howlin’
9. Buried in the Hail
10. Lefty 2 Guns
11. Laid to Rest
Album track by track:
“Hello in There”:
So many songs could have been made with this one. In many ways this album is about the mind and losing it. It’s also about accepting its function. That you’re a little crazy and that’s okay! I used this for the intro as it ’s such a nice calm before the storm compared to the 10-ton catastrophe on a 50-pound chain feeling from a few of the others on here. The children laughing in the background really made it. Children’s laughter is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world and I’m glad I could include it in here.
“Daylight I Will Find”:
It’s all about the music. Sweet and simple really. It’s no soft option for a good life. Life is full of challenges, and it’ll drive you insane if you let it. It doesn’t matter what it is, you must find your own way through it and in one piece! Find your own daylight. We all have it! It’s you! Love yourself.
“Government”:
I’m not too sure what to say about this one lyrically. I’m not political. I’m not on any side. I believe in right, and something is not right with the current world order running of things but as for the song, it has a very Celtic feel to it. My Irish ghosts, influences and banshees are howling the wind at my back as if to tell me to stay away from explaining this song faithfully.
“Belfast Blues”:
I’m a Belfast native. I love the place and the people. Just about every family has lost blood on the streets here yet it’s still a great place to witness. As we’d say there’s some characters about so there is! The song is about the days I spent playing the pubs and clubs in Northern Ireland. Getting in fights, fires, getting robbed, getting drunk and beaten and just generally misbehaving. Being an animal. I was a different person back then. I’ve become a lot younger now than I was back then and am finally living a life.
“Crazy”:
I usually have at least one cover on my albums, and I wanted something I could relate to. I wanted something I could identify with, and the lyrics are just it! I played this completely broken down, out of my mind and titanically heartbroken. It was written by Willie Nelson and made big by the beautiful Patsy Cline. As a cover song I think I’ve done a pretty good alternative version that does hold a feeling of that crazy, deeper burning love and the loss of it that makes us all a little… unhinged.
“Unhinged”:
This is a song about feeling unhinged by society, finding falseness in people who greet you with smiles and leave you with nothing.
“The Fall”:
It’s hard to write any one thing about this song. The fall of society comes to mind. It’s about people and what we do to each other. The timelines of history. It’s not too late for us though to keep it positive and I still have tons of hope for the future. I’m not just talking about my own future. We all need to be a little nicer to each other, that’s all. It’s that easy. Or we are going to fall…
“Howlin’”:
I love the music of Howlin’ Wolf and I wanted to pay my respects to the man. This one’s for you Wolf!
“Buried in the Hail”:
Going deep into your own mind can be dangerous. It can be difficult even to get to the dangerous part, you can get stuck in there. Your own locked room. I was stuck there for a while but I got out, though I do go back from time to time. It’s about revisiting the horrors that I have encountered and the experiences I have lived through so far. I always leave these situations feeling a bit raw, a little edgy. You need to be broken into pieces with unknown substances and possess a bag of pure emotion to write a song like this. It’s an acceptance that a part of life has had to be cut off to make it out alive. For example, your leg is stuck and the water is rising… cut it off!
“Lefty 2 Guns”:
A short story of a hitman. He ends this show by killing the parts I can ’t have anymore and he buries it all in the album cover and there’s nothing that can be done about it.
“Laid to Rest”:
The last gasp of music, the outro. Again, like the intro, I could have gone any direction with this one. It has a certain end game feel to it, a finality. Everything may seem personal on this album and a lot of it is, but it wasn’t by design, as these songs are how I felt, and they are all played from the heart to heal and move on. A “refresh” of some sorts, to let go of the past as there is no future in history. Laid to rest says that symbolically with its silence.
Dom will tour the new album throughout the UK and Ireland in October and November 2023 and Europe in June 2024. See tour dates listed below.
UK & Ireland Tour Dates 2023:
Sunday 8 October 2023 – Carlisle Blues/Rock Festival
Monday 9 October 2023 – The Cluny, Newcastle
Tuesday 10 October 2023 – The Club@142, Poynton
Wednesday 11 October 2023 – Marina Bar, Plymouth
Thursday 12 October 2023 – Chester Live Rooms
Friday 13 October 2023 – Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
Saturday 14 October 2023 – Bournefest, Sittingbourne
Sunday 15 October 2023 – The Musician, Leicester
Tuesday 17 October 2023 – 1865, Southampton
Wednesday 18 October 2023 – The Bullingdon, Oxford
Thursday 19 October 2023 – Eel Pie Club, London
Friday 20 October 2023 – The Stables, Milton Keynes
Saturday 21 October 2023 – Arlington Arts, Newbury
Sunday 22 October 2023 – Met Lounge, Peterborough
Tuesday 24 October 2023 – Red Arrow Club, Ramsgate
Wednesday 25 October 2023 – John Peel Centre, Stowmarket
Thursday 26 October 2023 – Yardbirds, Grimsby
Friday 27 October 2023 – Vicky Vaults, York
Saturday 28 October 2023 – Silsden Town Hall
Sunday 29 October 2023 – The Caves, Edinburgh
Saturday 4 November 2023 – Skylite Room, Warrenpoint
Thursday 9 November 2023 – Whelans, Dublin
Friday 10 November 2023 – Dolans, Limerick
Saturday 11 November 2023 – Wainthrop Avenue, Cork
Sunday 12 November 2023 – Roisin Dubh, Galway
Friday 17 November 2023 – The Empire, Belfast
Get tickets here.
Line-up:
Dom Martin – Vocals, Guitar
Ben Graham – Bass Guitar & Double Bass
Jonny McIlroy – Drums
Album credits:
All Songs composed by Dom Martin except Crazy (Willie Nelson)
Recorded in Golden Egg Studios, Ireland
Mixed and produced by Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy at The Production Suite, Dublin, Ireland
Co-Produced by Dom Martin
Mastered by Richard Dowling at WAV Mastering, Limerick, Ireland
Artwork Concept – Dom Martin
Album Artwork – Magic Cabin Studios
