For his latest project, Fort Worth-based singer-songwriter Court Hoang found inspiration in an unlikely place — the calendar.
In crafting the follow-up to 2022’s extraordinary Get Right, the Dallas-born Hoang understood the simple fact that the music business now is driven by an unrelenting amount of content dispensed at an equally merciless pace, but decided to beat the algorithm at its own game.
The entire project is called Triptychs, but it is being broken up into four distinct volumes, each one pegged to a season and featuring three songs. The first, Autumn, is out now, and Winter, the second installment, will arrive on Dec. 22.
“This was me being dragged kicking and screaming into the streaming reality we’re living in, which is, basically, you have to be releasing stuff more often,” Hoang, who uses he/they pronouns, said during a recent conversation. “I’d heard of folks who do the whole album, one single at a time, and it just felt cheesy, it feels cheap. … So I started thinking, ‘Well, I don’t necessarily have to do all or nothing — where’s a good middle ground?’”
The “middle ground” turned out to be a quarterly release, which aligned nicely with the concept of seasons. Again working with producer Joseph Fisher-Schramm, Autumn more or less picks up where Get Right left off, proving Hoang is one of the most ambitious, melodically gifted musicians working in North Texas.
That assessment is further solidified by Winter, which features Hoang singing live with the Mansfield Philharmonic, for the breathtaking closing track “12:47 AM,” the video for which KXT is pleased to premiere below.
Taking those kinds of calculated leaps doesn’t faze Hoang, whose desire to fully connect outweighs any immediate considerations around the marketplace.
“It’s hard because you want to make sure that people know what to expect from you all the time, but you need to give them a little something that’s interesting,” Hoang said. “It’s this whole balancing act, and I really fall much more on the side of just doing what I want, which hopefully people are into.”
Hoang, along with their backing band the Love Children (Fisher-Schramm, Felipe Rosales, Meaux and LeeAnn Hamilton), will celebrate the first two installments of Triptychs on Saturday at Dr. Jeckyll’s in Pantego, with support from the Fault Lines and Almost Jaded.
What lies ahead, of course, is Spring and Summer, which Hoang refrained from elaborating upon too much, other than to say “Spring is going to be a little more jazzy, and Summer is going to be very rock-y.”
“The goal is for [the EPs] to work any which way,” Hoang said. “It’s a process of discovery as you are becoming yourself. I’m 36 this year and I’m in this place in my life where I feel really solidly myself. … After you become the person you are, the next process of discovery is like, ‘OK, what am I going to do?’ … Life is this continued process of discovery, and that’s why I love the idea of being able to release this in parts, because you get to wait and see what’s going to happen.”
Court Hoang “Triptychs” release at Dr. Jeckyll’s Beer Lab, Pantego. 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21. Tickets are $5 at the door.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
