Wandering around the offices of Sony Music Ireland HQ in Ballsbridge, it’s hilariously simple to spot Tom Grennan with his mop of curly hair and brightly coloured clothes. Pop singer-songwriters tend to stand out from the crowd, though Grennan has a definite relaxed air about him considering he’s busy topping charts and selling out tours.

Having just returned to Dublin after a brief stint in Westmeath with his cousins, his mood appears laidback ahead of a packed Irish media schedule. The good people of Sony stop by the meeting room to drop him in a takeaway lunch, and Tom’s ready to talk business.

“I’m heading home tomorrow,” he tells me, his pink vape on the glass table in front of him. “Westmeath was lovely. It was good to be back with family, chilling out - just having that time to relax. I know the area pretty well by now, so it’s great to stop in.”

Tom Grennan.

Having performed at Cork’s Live at the Marquee last year, Dublin venue Fairview Park on June 30th marked his second major Irish outdoor show in the space of a year.

“It’s summer!” he grins, energised. “Everybody’s up for celebrating being outside, enjoying music and having a good time. I love an outdoor show for that reason, but then the Irish crowd is a different crowd. Everybody is up for it from the get go. It’s always amazing.”

“Every day is unique,” he remarks. “When I come to Ireland, I see that everyone is just on your side from the very beginning. Sometimes England is impossible to get that kind of pace. You just have to work the crowd a bit more than you do over here. It’s always fun.”

Storming new single ‘How Does It Feel’ is the latest cut from Grennan’s third studio album What Ifs and Maybes, which is set to be released on June 9th via Insanity Records. Premiered on Clara Amfo’s BBC Radio 1 show the day of our interview, Tom seems unfazed.

“It’s happening,” he says, matter-of-fact. “I’m ready for people to get this song off - I’ve been listening to this song in the car for so long but I just need people to take it and let it be theirs. It’s a different side to me and also another taste of what the album will be. It feels good.”

Tom Grennan. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

The chart-topping BRIT and Ivor Novello-nominated singer-songwriter packs in plenty of euphoric, gospel-inspired vocals and harmonies on his latest singles. ‘Here’ acted as a story of solidarity in trying times, and a crucial message of togetherness, while ‘How Does It Feel’ is “a reflection on the excitement that comes when you know you have a chance to rebuild”. It's an exciting, fun burst of pop energy but Grennan first appeared on the charts through 2016 Chase & Status feature ‘All Goes Wrong’.

Why are UK electronic artists like Disclosure so adept at launching new voices?

“They must have a good ear. Chase & Status are a massive part of what I’m doing now. They just gave me the confidence that I could do it. They heard something in my voice that they knew people would like. These musicians know their craic. I’m into different types of music. If anybody says they want to do a song and it’s the right feel and time then I’ll do it.”

“KSI and Joel Corry are very different characters,” he says of his more recent collaborators. “I just throw myself into things I don’t think I’ll be comfortable in. I like the uncomfortable, I like testing myself and seeing what works. I get on with Joel and KSI well so it was fun.”

What Ifs and Maybes is unequivocally a faster-paced album than 2021’s Evering Road, with few ballads in the mix. Post-lockdowns, dance-pop tracks with huge choruses are the rage.

“I don't think about the pressure. Honestly, post-Covid and with what my other album was, I had to just draw a line under it all. I was entering a different chapter of my life. I was happy I was free and I am still. Creatively, I was in a place where I could do what I wanted to do. I could finally make the music that made me feel good. That’s what this album is about.”

An album standout is undoubtedly the soaring, gospel-like pop anthem ‘Crown Your Love’.

“Thank you very much!” he smiles. “A Claddagh ring was actually the inspiration behind it. My mum used to wear them sometimes. She asked if I knew the meaning behind it, and she said, ‘Hold your heart in my hands and I’ll crown your love forever’. I went, ‘That is a serious song title!’ Some friends and I wrote it in a session after racking our brains trying to find an idea. I explained the lyric I wanted to experiment with and they said it sounded like gold.”

Tom Grennan

I’m assuming his mum heard the finished product?

“Yeah! Loved it. She’s looking for her ten percent,” Tom laughs.

What Ifs and Maybes has a gleaming list of producers and songwriters, who teamed up with Grennan to pen tracks in the countryside this time around.

LostBoy, Cleo Tighe, Oliver Green, Lewis Thompson, Carl Falk, Ryan Linvill, Peter Rycroft, James Bell, Digital Farm Animals, Jordan Riley, The Six, Andrew Wells, Jamie Scott, Billen Ted, Joel Corry, Mike Needle, Rick Boardman, Neave Applebaum, Gerard O'Connell, James Essien, and Liam Payne all have credits on the project, among other lauded names perfecting pop.

“These people are my friends, so we collaborated well together in sessions,” Tom offers, passionately. “We worked on these songs in the room and each producer was there at the time. It only felt right to do it together like that. There wasn’t that much thought into it - we’re friends and we’re vibing. That’s what was happening in the room with Nathan. These are people that are my mates. I’ve been out with them loads.”

Are you sick of being asked about The Kooks’ 2006 hit ‘Seaside’? Grennan revealed he was singing that song at a party when he was 18 for his friends, which effectively kickstarted his attempt to make it in the music industry. Since then, he gets quizzed about it monthly.

The Kooks at Electric Picnic, September 2022. Copyright Laura Klepeisz/hotpress.com

“I hate that question now - if people ask me about it I quit!” Tom admits, shaking his head with a grin. “It’s been done. We know enough about me now, we’re past that. I’m three albums in now. I feel like I’m established and interesting enough to ask me about something different. Not about when I was 18, that was fucking ten years ago. I know Luke [Pritchard] and the band pretty well. They know the story and tell me to shut up about it now!”

“In the early stages with my label, they suggested media training and I definitely tried it, but the only way I can really get a good chat out of someone is by being me,” he shrugs. As a young, male singer-songwriter in a busy pop sphere, Grennan could easily be reduced to a classification or grouping. It doesn’t help that his star has risen at the same time as Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi, Dermot Kennedy; plus the continued presence of Ed Sheeran.

“It’s annoying to be lobbed into a grouping, but I feel like I’m the underdog in a way,” Tom informs me. “Which I’m fine with, but I just can’t wait for people to stop comparing me to other people. But listen, everyone’s on their own journey. These artists are my mates and they’re unbelievable at what they do. We’re just killing it, so keep comparing me.”

Is there someone within the industry who offers golden nuggets of advice?

“I’d love to say I do, but I don’t have anyone like that. I’m a lone wolf, if I’m going to be honest, when it comes to the industry. I’ve got a lot of friends who are musicians and whatnot but I feel like I’m pretty sweet with where I’m at right now. I’m happy. If I need advice or I need help with anything at all I’d go to my missus, my mum or my family.”

“In the next while, I’d love to have a number 1 record around England, Europe and further afield. Just being able to keep building, to keep progressing without falling off, is on the bucket list. I’m on my third album, and it’s rare to see an artist still progressing at this stage.

“If I could go to the pub and celebrate that number one album, I’d go with Amy Winehouse, but I always mention her!” he shakes his head, smiling.

“In all honesty, it would be a footballer. Fuck musicians. I don’t want to talk about me,” he laughs. “If I get a number one, I’d want to talk about anything but charts and the music business. I’d most likely pick Roberto Carlos. He’s a legend.”

Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

For someone as unassuming and down-to-earth as Grennan, his fanbase has become all the more dedicated in recent months and years since his Covid-19 virtual live sessions.

“I’ve just come off a tour and I could tell that people are ready to jump on this journey of a new album with me,” Tom grins, excitedly. “It’s been a long awaited record for sure. I’ve had it sitting there for fucking ages. I think people are just sick of playing Evering Road. They want colourful, uplifting bangers, and I’m more than ready to bring it to them.”

Tom Grennan's new album What Ifs and Maybes arrived on June 16th via Sony Music Ireland.

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