You can
triangulate OFFICER’s sound somewhere between Damien Rice, The National and
Florence and the Machine—that is, strong emotional intensity, huge melodies and
a subtle, bittersweet Celtic edge.
Having released a rock-solid
recording debut with 2015’s Myriads (see review here), OFFICER is gearing up to
record a second album, set for release later in the year. The ‘indie
soundscape’ songs released to this point are about relationships: with the idea
of home; with the city; with the world; with what we are taught in our culture;
with great books and pieces of art; with the figure of God; with family and
friends.
OFFICER comprises
singer-songwriter and band leader David ‘Dc’ Logan alongside various
collaborators. Born in Glasgow and raised in Northern Ireland as a
“working-class council estate-hopper”, Logan grew up surrounded by the sounds
of Celtic folk, British pop, American blues, The Clash and Radiohead. As a
teen, seeing Ash and U2 play in Belfast in the lead up to the Good Friday
Agreement made a strong impression on him, both in terms of culture and the
changes happening in Northern Ireland. Throw in The Smiths, Ryan Adams and Jeff
Buckley for good measure and you get the makings of a passionate and eloquent
songwriter.
His first song came at the age
of 18, written about his parent’s tempestuous marriage and eventual divorce,
and later turned into writing and gigging regularly in and around the local
open mics, parties, pubs/clubs and churches.
After moving to London and
becoming inspired by the likes of At The Drive In, Logan formed punk band
Colourcode, touring and releasing two EP’s and an album. Whilst living in the
English capital he has dedicated himself to helping the homeless and
vulnerable, setting up and running community projects for the most
marginalised.
Solo project OFFICER was born in
2013, drawing on his love of bands like The National, Frightened Rabbit, Iron
& Wine and Local Natives—a friend’s suggestion of the name ‘Officer’ stuck
after Logan, who had been stuck being an administration officer for a few
years, decided to take up the challenge of redeeming the word from its
bureaucratic, authoritarian implications. Over the course of a year, he
challenged himself to write one new song for each gig he played, resulting in a
collection that became debut album, Myriads.
Indeed, that collection so
inspired fans of his intensely personal and somewhat magic live performances
that they came together—without Logan’s knowledge—to gather enough money to pay
for album recordings. He had spent 10 months gigging around London, UK, Ireland
and Europe before several followers of his, desperate to hear his songs on
record, called him to schedule some after-work drinks. To his surprise they
revealed they had been working furiously to crowdfund enough cash to pay for
the production of an album. In the liner notes of the resulting record, he
wrote: “If not for this ninja initiative, the album would not have been made.”
Logan wrote and co-produced
Myriads with producer and instrumentalist Daniel Peterson at The Biscuit
Factory, Bermondsey. Sessions took place under a strict set of conditions:
Logan personally would not work on a given song for more than a day. The intent
was to create a sense of urgency and encourage a rawness of approach based on
instinct and intuition—rather than get bogged down in painstaking attention to
detail, retaking and editing.
During
his day job working with homeless people, Logan came across an illustrator and
painter, Dave B, with whom he became friends. They worked together on a
different project before the Dave accepted a commission form Officer to produce
artwork that would accompany the release of three singles from the album.
Next stop for OFFICER is the
difficult second album, currently in the works. The songs will centre around
various themes: the joy, awe and fear of having become a father; the
paradoxical tyranny, freedom and healing abilities of time; the suffering, fragmentation
and loneliness that result from the hailstorm of bullshit the world is
currently going through; extremism, nationality and a global shortage of good
leadership… oh, and drunk dancing (among other things).
This is an artist with a
resonant sound and voice, making music that embraces the widest range of
emotions; he has come from a hard place, witnesses the tribulations of
genuinely vulnerable people every day and struggles with faith in a world that
seems to be rewarding lies and greed above all else.
In the midst of all that he also
writes a fucking great tune from time to time.
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