Zach Thompson carries balladeer traditions with new EP, Who Pays The Piper?

"Who Pays The Piper?" is Thompson's first release since his EP On Platt's Eyot, released last October, and his debut EP, Algebra Parable, released last June. Alongside the release, Thompson writes, “His is a tune that has resounded not for an age but for all time. A hypnotic motif you catch yourself dancing to in every present, only to disown decades later, when history finally bares its cold naked face. One that rings like wildfire in the ears of every budding Brutus, that enlivens him to bury the blade in each Caesar’s side.

"One that charms the snakes in Africa and turns so called gentlemen into rats. It is heard on the streets of New York, Newport, Southport, Clacton and Hamelin. Tiananmen and Trafalgar Square, and on the animal tongue of Josephine. Seamus and Shem. He wears a gold ring. And who pays him? Do you hear what I’m seeing?”

Who Pays The Piper? features five tracks recorded directly to tape with engineer Sam Grassie. The album offers a more freeform approach for Thompson, placing his vocals and guitar at the centre as he continues building on the bardic and balladeer folk traditions of the British and Irish isles, inspired by everything from Dada poetry and Biblical myth, to nursery rhymes and newspaper columns.

Who Pays The Piper? artwork