Tom Henry - Songs to Sing and Dance To

Songs to Sing and Dance To is the debut album by Chicago born LA based musician Tom Henry. Produced by Kai Slater of Sharp Pins and featuring contributions from him on nearly every track, the album includes twelve rock n’ roll songs to sing and dance to–influenced by power pop, garage rock, psych, and folk. The album was mixed & mastered by Jonny Bell (Tijuana Panthers, Young Guv, Hanni El Khatib) at Jazzcats in Long Beach.

Album opener “Close Your Eyes” kicks things off in the best of ways, mixing pop hooks with songwriting that’s straight from the heart ala Alex Chilton. Lead single “Bella” opens with jangly acoustic guitars before eventually building to an emotional climax of psych-punk energy,  “I Miss You” leans into Big Star influenced power-pop, and “Arthouse” captures the thrill of a midnight movie with its garage-rock guitars and Farfisa organ, reminiscent of The Modern Lovers.

Meanwhile, the album’s B-Side is full of heavy hitters–“Oh, How I’ve Missed the Sun!” recalls The Raspberries, “Do You Wanna Be With Me?” co-written with bandmate Ben Jordan (The Private Eye) recalls the chiming folk-rock of the Byrds, and “The Mountains” mines country-folk influences complete with high lonesome pedal steel.