Paper Tigers
‘No Ghosts Walk’ is their third single and, driven by a hypnotic rhythm, lyrically the song deals with grief and loss. Trying to retain what tenuous links we, the living, can have to our loved ones that have left our mortal coil, Hayley sings in a pained reprise ‘It burns it stings, to watch you leave, not hold you every day’.
Paper Tigers were formed in 2018 by Michael Smyth with Hayley Norton on vocals and Stevey Henry on bass. 2019 saw them come out swinging, gigging incessantly and releasing debut single ‘Gucci Smiles’ which earned them a nomination for the NI Music Prize Best Single. This was followed by sophomore single ‘Flames’, released at the very beginning of the global pandemic. The two songs have over 20,000 streams with accompanying videos hitting over 10,000 views. These releases earned them tours with LIFE and Hundredth, international radio play including attention from iHeart Radio as well as accolades from press with Chordblossom declaring ‘This is rock and roll’.
The song builds to an explosive crescendo, a release of bottled up emotion. This single marks the last of the initial three songs the band recorded - it acts as a bookend to the initial period of Paper Tigers.
2021 saw some big changes as first Stevey came out to the band and the world as a trans woman who now goes by Emma.
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In June, Matt joined the band as drummer to complete the lineup for recording and touring.
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October 2021 saw the release of their 4th single Blue Light Trails, followed by Graceless and Moloko. The full Graceless EP, along with a brand new video for Hush, was released in April 2022.
releases
Tracks will stream for 30s only. Click on Get Single to stream on Spotify