‘Overground’ is the fifth studio album by UK Americana artists Police Dog Hogan. Formed in 2009, the band combines trumpet, guitar, fiddle, and accordion with bass and drums to create a driving sound which has seen them develop into a successful outfit that regularly plays festivals such as Glastonbury, Cropredy, and The Sidmouth Folk Festival to name a few.
There is an abundance of energy from the seven-piece, which is immediately clear by the attention-grabbing opener ‘Hold On’ with its up-tempo message of positivity. Travel and the joy of returning home is the theme of the anthemic harmony-driven ‘Westward Ho!’. Continuing those themes mixed with a hint of laid-back Cockney pub music, ‘Barcelona’ spins a whimsical tale of a dreamer looking for love in the Catalan capital.
The magical sparseness of ‘Here Comes Crow’ stems from guitarist and vocalist James Studholme’s spring lockdown experience when his home was frequently visited by a crow that took to attacking its own reflection in the window. ‘Funfair On Shepherd’s Bush Green’ provides a reflective laid-back tale of young love and what might have been. The brooding ‘Disappear’ conjures up an apocalyptic vision of a treacherous snowbound Wild West replete with mysterious characters and portents of doom.
‘Overground’ mixes English folk sensibilities with Americana to wonderful effect. Geographical locations blur with ease within the music to paint vivid pictures in the listener’s mind as they are led into well-composed songs containing situations full of vivid and realised characters and places. A truly inspiring record from start to finish.