Brick Smyth is a composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Belfast, currently working in Manchester. He's a big fan of dogs. Carrying on with the traditions of Tommy Cooper and Willem DeFoe- both avid dog fans, as the reader knows- he aims in every endeavour to bring cohesion to the dog-friendly movement. He will succeed of course. As a youngling, his proclivity for dog-business was unmistakable; since then it has grown in an alarming and unregulated way, to this day showing not the least sign of abeyance. 

  His debut single Dogs on Parade was released in January 14,000 (dog years); a razor-sharp social satire on the relationship between dog and master, and the status with which the master expects to be endowed by the 'ownership' of said dog. Just 8 weeks later (March 14,001 D.Y.) came the release of Not Dog Enough, a heartfelt ballad about the depth of a dog's pain on being left alone during the day; the song was an instant hit amongst mainly dogs, and Smyth was signed to HedgeHog Records on July 11th, 2000 [citation needed]. His first studio album, Good Boy, was released to critical acclaim, certainly among dogs anyway, the following year. 

  Since then, Smyth has generally continued to sing about dogs. His second and third albums, Thought My Tail Was You Again and Fetch Me Your Love respectively, reached #23 and #47 in the charts, also respectively. Despite being a commercial success, Smyth grew increasingly despondent, revealing in interviews that he was "struggling to maintain creative control" and that he "badly wanted to go for a walk." After a public scandal in which an untethered Smyth ate his recording contract live on television, a lengthy lawsuit ensued, with Smyth eventually settling for an undisclosed sum. Ultimately, this led to his severing all ties with the record company and running away from home.

  He came back from wherever he had been to release his fourth album, Bite Me, which saw a notable shift in tone and voracity, taking influence from the mongrel-punk scene of the early 2000s, while his fifth release, Neuter This, distinctly broke ties with all former notions of acceptability in a public place, leaving him marginalised. After running away again, possibly to another record label's house, he returned with his sixth and most recent studio album to date, Ca9; a decidedly more introspective and experimental work, produced almost entirely with inaudible instruments, he claims. His latest single, Dog, is also about dogs, and was released to mixed reviews; 2 out of 3 people out of a sample of 3 people reported positive reviews. New single Dog out now listen below.