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About Tom Calladine
For fans of: Fionn Regan, Adrienne Lenker, Fleet Foxes, Young Waters
Cornish-born but now based in Bristol, Thomas Calladine is a prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & producer with growing acclaim for a style that deftly balances lofi charm with intricate attention to detail. He released his new solo album Each time you go around the sun on Friday 4 March 2022 via Cuculi Records.
He records and produces careful, composite layers of guitars, drums, banjo, kora and cello to support his distinctive falsetto vocals, reminiscent of Robin Pecknold and early Bon Iver. Each time… represents a conscious move towards simplicity, away from Tom’s history of abstract tunings and ambient soundscapes as he wanted to make something more accessible for himself and his growing audience. With lyrics that offer a gentle invitation to a dreamy abstraction, the influence of Adrienne Lenker is clear in his ability to say so much with a few simple words and chords. It’s a testament to Tom’s inner imaginative landscape that some of his most nature-centred songs began to blossom in his Bristol bedroom, where he later completed them as tracks for the album.
There’s an appearance of refreshing effortlessness throughout this new side of his musicianship, which suits his lyrical threads of connection, acceptance and awe of the magnitude of nature. His watchful introversion is a writer’s gift, as he sketches out his experience of the world and the universe beyond it, grounding himself in the addictive detail of multifaceted alt-folk arrangements.
Record Label
Cuculi Records
Cuculi Records is a DIY label based in Bristol, run by a woman-led collective of musicians and songwriters with the aim of helping grassroots artists navigate the complexities of releasing music independently. We work with bedroom composers, folk singers, ambient explorers and unusual ensembles who might struggle to find a niche on the scene for their weird, quiet, compelling music, based on our own experiences as outsider musicians. Many of the folks we work with are neurodiverse, and we have all felt a huge impact on our work by creating a resilient, compassionate network of like-minded artists.
Our current roster includes Eleven Magpies, Tom Calladine, Anna Anise, House of Figs, Bea Piper and Hands of the Heron - the last being an alt-folk trio who co-founded the label in 2020. We’ve worked with some artists through every stage of production and release, and others we’ve supported by managing press and distribution after they’ve completed production on their albums themselves. Most recently, we’ve been running Cuculi Presents, a series of intimate gigs around Bristol with a focus on listening and experimentation. We’ve hosted nine events since June 2022 and all of them have sold out, with several more to come over the spring and summer.
