Tom Hickox

Tom Hickox is a British singer-songwriter and music composer.

Hickox has released three studio albums as a solo artist: War, Peace and Diplomacy, Monsters in the Deep, and The Orchestra of Stories.

War, Peace and Diplomacy

War, Peace and Diplomacy was released on 10 March 2014 on Fierce Panda Records, and Hickox became the first artist from that label to appear on British music TV programme Later... with Jools Holland.

The album was recorded at Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield, and co-produced by Hickox and Colin Elliot. It features a slide guitar solo on "Out of the Warzone" by Richard Hawley.

Tracklisting

  1. The Angel of the North
  2. The Pretty Pride of Russia
  3. Out of the Warzone
  4. Your Baby Was Asleep
  5. White Roses Red
  6. Let Me Be Your Lover
  7. A Normal Boy
  8. The Lisbon Maru
  9. Good Night

"The Lisbon Maru" tells the story of a British soldier who survived the torpedoing of a Japanese POW ship. Hickox appears playing the song in a documentary, The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, that China selected as its representative at the 97th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.

A version of "Good Night" was used to score a commercial for Dr Martens featuring Agnyess Deyn. The success of the film inspired the opening segment of Rihanna and Calvin Harris' video for "We Found Love", in which Deyn also features. "The Pretty Pride of Russia" was then used to score another commercial for Dr Martens featuring Alice Dellal.

Monsters in the Deep

Monsters in the Deep was released on 31 March 2017 on Family Tree Records in partnership with Warner Chappell Music.

The album was co-produced by Hickox and long time collaborator Chris Hill, and was recorded in the private Richmond studio of British songwriter Terry Britten: State of the Ark Studios.

Tracklisting

  1. Man of Anatomy
  2. Istanbul
  3. The Plough
  4. The Dubbing Artist
  5. The Fanfare
  6. Korean Girl in a Waiting Room
  7. Perseus and Lampedusa
  8. Monsters in the Deep
  9. Collect all the Empties
  10. Mannequin Heart

"The Dubbing Artist" tells the story of Irina Margareta Nistor, who found huge fame in her native Romania in the 1980s dubbing banned American and British movies into Romanian during the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Hickox performed the song in Bucharest as part of her 60th birthday celebrations.

The Orchestra of Stories

The Orchestra of Stories was released on April 25, 2025 on Family Tree Records.

The album was produced by Hickox, and recorded in a multitude of studios including Air Studios. It features the Chineke! Orchestra and Onyx Brass.

The video for "Game Show" received a nomination for the 2025 London Music Video Awards.

Tracklisting

  1. The Clairvoyant
  2. Chalk Giants
  3. Game Show
  4. The Shoemaker
  5. Roy and Eve
  6. Lament for the Lamentable Elected
  7. The Failed Assassination of Fidel Castro
  8. The Whole of the Moon
  9. Man on the High Road
  10. The Port Quin Fishing Disaster

Composition

In 2020, Hickox was commissioned by the BBC to write a piece, No Human is an Island, for their Culture in Quarantine programme in collaboration with The Chineke! Orchestra.

As composer, he scored the feature documentary Hannah: Buddhism's Untold Journey, and has scored the following short films:

Personal life

Tom Hickox is the son of Richard Hickox and Frances Sheldon-Williams.

References

  1. ↑ "Tom Hickox, War, Peace & Diplomacy, review". The Telegraph. 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  2. ↑ Davies, Hannah J. (2017-04-13). "Tom Hickox: Monsters in the Deep review – baroque, operatic songwriting". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  3. ↑ Interviews, Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews &; Murray, Robin (16 January 2025). "Tom Hickox Shares Beautiful Single 'Chalk Giants' | News". Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved 13 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "BBC Two - Later... with Jools Holland, Series 44, Episode 3". BBC. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  5. ↑ "Tom Hickox â€" War Peace and Diplomacy - Rock Club UK". therockclubuk.com. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  6. ↑ Brzeski, Patrick (2024-09-30). "Oscars: China Picks WWII Doc 'The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru' for International Feature Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  7. ↑ Nika, Colleen (2011-08-15). "Doc Martens' Fall 2011 'Firsts' Campaign Premieres Alongside Iconic Neil Young Images". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  8. ↑ Cragg, Michael (2011-10-23). "Rihanna: a very British music video". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  9. ↑ "Alice Dellal for Dr. Martens – exclusive film". ELLE. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  10. ↑ Gillet, Kit (2014-12-25). "The voice that brought Hollywood films to communist Romania's TV screens". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  11. ↑ "Irina Margareta Nistor și-a serbat ziua ca-n filme". www.eva.ro. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  12. ↑ tomhickoxmusic (2024-10-24). Tom Hickox - Game Show (Official Video). Retrieved 2025-11-06 – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ "Nominees 2025". LondonMVA. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
  14. ↑ "BBC Arts - Culture in Quarantine, Filmed in Lockdown, No Human Is An Island". BBC. 2020-07-20. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  15. ↑ György-Kessler, Marta; Penny, Adam (2014-11-14), Hannah: Buddhism's Untold Journey (Documentary, Biography, History), Esther Fallon, Susannah Harker, Villads Vestergaard, Connected Pictures, retrieved 2025-03-18
  16. ↑ Briggs, Ashley (2012-09-01), The Search for Inspiration Gone (Short, Drama), Yuliya Fytsaylo, Michael Grinter, Charlie MacGechan, retrieved 2025-03-18
  17. ↑ "WINNERS | NYC Indie Film Fest". Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  18. ↑ Taylor, Paul (2015-03-21), FestEvil (Short, Comedy, Horror), Daniel Abelson, Ben Clark, Tim Dann, retrieved 2025-03-18
  19. ↑ Millington, Barry (2008-11-25). "Richard Hickox". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  20. ↑ "Fran Hickox obituary". www.thetimes.com. 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2024-10-02.