Corner Boy have released their highly anticipated self-titled debut album. I spoke to Mick D’Arcy about the album, the band’s upcoming shows and how the tracks on this album span 10 years of the band’s creativity.
“We’ve been together as a band for 10 years. So I think the best thing about this process was that a lot of the songs we were able to revisit. We would have written some of the songs as far back as maybe 2013 and 2014. So there is a lot of newer material on the album but this was a great opportunity to revisit songs and take the songs as they were presented from us from a younger age, and with all of the years of experience, of being on the road, playing live shows and, other recent releases take all of that knowledge and breathe new life into these older songs as well. So it’s been an incredibly interesting and exciting process for us.”
“A lot of them would have been early demos that we would have released and kind of bootleg CDs that we would have taken on various tours with us but a lot of the songs haven’t been released formally. Many people who come to our shows and friends would say to us regarding a couple of the songs “Why haven’t you released that? you know, as a studio album version. That’s my favourite song. You should really release that”. So I guess with the album, we did take that into account with a few of those songs and we’re delighted to properly present it to the world now”
The band have found the perfect blend of folk, rock, traditional, bluegrass and alternative within this album to create a unique and rich sound that showcases each member’s individual musical prowess.
“I guess the sound of the band has evolved over the years. We’ve dabbled in heavier, more loud, harsher sounds, the quieter singer-songwriter side, bluegrass, traditional Irish music, so I guess this album in essence is the exploration of all of that and it’s us arriving at this point where we are comfortable and have clearly defined our sound. So that’s the concept, our journey through the years to arrive at this signature sound that we’ve been trying to establish for such a long time and we really feel we’ve gotten this with this collection of 10 songs, they really represent the band, what we were and what we’ve become along the way.”
Throughout the album, the songs are bright, hopeful and a joy to listeners’ ears. ‘Morning Morning’ is a glorious example. It’s uplifting with each instrument adding a bright twinkle throughout while lush vocal harmonies and banjo elements add a hearty sing-along aspect. This wholesome soundscape cushions the listeners from the melancholic lyrical content.
“That song I guess we were going through a period of writing sombre down tempo songs. The song itself, it’s a really energetic and positive-sounding song. But lyrically it’s really about a person who’s struggling to get out of bed in the morning. They’re struggling to see a lot of positivity in the world. So we decided to take this concept, a sad theme and write it with the backing of really hopeful and entertaining music. So we’re constantly challenging ourselves and giving ourselves these little projects, there’s another song in the album called ‘The Sea’ and that was another example of us just giving ourselves something ambitious to look for. We wanted to create the loudest most impactful song that we’ve ever written and we felt we achieved that with that as well. Sometimes a lot of the songs and particularly with ‘Morning Morning’, it really starts from this simple idea of taking a subject matter or context and then playing with it and hopefully finding some positive results in the writing process.”
‘The Sea’ follows the darker lyrical theme of ‘Morning Morning’ however with this song the band allow the music to reflect the sombre songwriting. With a thumping beat, thudding guitars and jangly banjo the band manage to create a sense of turmoil through expressive instrumentation. D’Arcy sings “I know That pain, Seen it before, it’s taking my heart, taking it whole” over evocative instrumentation that highlights the band’s ability for creating cinematic soundscapes.
“I guess, ‘Morning Morning’ is interesting because that song is more of an affirmation for somebody who may be in a position of struggling in certain aspects of their life. I guess that’s one way of approaching the songs. With regards to ‘The Sea’, that was more trying to incorporate the notion of painting in a landscape and characters and feelings into the song that reflects those landscapes. So unfortunately, there’s a very high rate of suicide in Wexford town and at the time when we were writing the song it almost felt like every weekend that we woke up, we found out a friend of ours or somebody that we know, had passed away, we wanted to write a response to that. At the time we wanted to explore the notion of there are ups and downs, life is choppy waters at times and we wanted to write something that was a response to what was going on around us. So, again a different way of looking at a challenge and writing songs but something that we felt we were able to reflect that energy, that particularly stormy time in Wexford town where we’re all from, it wasn’t great, but we felt like we needed to respond and we needed to create something as a response to that. “
The album ends with ‘I Dream Of Boston Town’ a tender ballad delicately presented through soft instrumentation and Celtic tones. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking way to end the whirlwind journey of this album.
“That’s a song that we had on the back burner for a long time. We weren’t even sure that we were going to include it because it’s seven or eight minutes long, but then we just said we really do need to include it. When we play it live, we typically have the room singing back to us that chorus chant at the end. We felt that was a song that felt like a short story but it needed to tell the story of the heartbreak, the connection or disconnection between two people, the breaking down of something, the original building of something and then watching it subsequently break down. So it is a long song, but it’s different from any kind of single that you might release to radio. This song was really a short story and we felt that it just offered something very different from your standard three to four minutes single. So yeah, we just thought it showed a different dynamic to the band, or a different ability within us to write a different kind of song.“
‘River Born’ is perhaps my favourite song on the album. The vivid storytelling mixed with warm instrumentation creates this almost anthemic and comforting sound that is irresistible. With a sweet string refrain woven between driving rhythms and bright guitars, it’s a glorious tune full of emotion. D’Arcy explained to me which songs on the album he is most proud of.
“That’s a really good question. I think the most recent song we finished before doing pre-production for the album was a song called ‘Blackstairs Winter Snow’, which is the first track on the album. So I guess there’s probably an element of recency bias there but that was a moment where we felt as a band we really arrived at a collective sound that for us felt so distinctive, it felt so unique and different. So it felt that we had gotten to this point where all of that learning over the years, trying to understand how we would use guitar sounds effectively within our songwriting, how we would use our exploration of synthetic music as well. It felt like we found a real safe comfort zone to be able to amalgamate all of those things and yeah, for me, it would probably be a song like ‘Blackstairs Winter Snow’. We have six members of the band, each one would probably tell you that they have a favourite different song and hopefully that’s a testament to the strength of the collection of the 10 songs on the album that they all have different dynamics, different stories, different viewpoints. So hopefully, when people are listening to it, it’s a case that each individual person might see something that’s reflective of them, they might have their own individual favourite in that way.”
Fans can catch Corner Boy live on Friday 2nd December in Whelans and Saturday 10th December in National Opera House, Wexford. These songs are going to be epic live. D’Arcy explained to me what fans can expect from the shows.
“Yeah, that’s the plan. We’ve spent the last six weeks building our live show, rehearsing every week for it. So just trying to make it better and better and refine it as much as we can. So we’re really really excited. Our hometown album launch show in the National Opera House is sold out and we have limited tickets left for Whelan’s now on December 2, so we’re really really itching to get up on stage. We played the Ruby Sessions in Dublin and that went incredibly well. So that’s gotten us match fit as well. So itching to get going. We’re building and can’t wait to play the shows. Hopefully, we’ll be getting out on the road to tour them as well next year. So really, really exciting times for us after a long time waiting”
Showcasing poetic lyrics and dynamic instrumentation Corner Boy’s self-titled album is a fine display of the band’s poignant musicianship. Each track leaves you craving to hear more. The album is a truly special and immersive listening experience.
Columbia Mills are set to release their new album ‘Heart Of A Nation’ on the 14th of October . I spoke to Fiachra Treacy, frontman of Columbia Mills about making the album during the pandemic, the benefits of producing the album themselves and the moving inspiration behind some of the fantastic tracks.
‘Heart of A Nation’ is absolutely glorious. Columbia Mills pack so much emotion and passion into one album. The songs deal with the impact society has on our lives and gives an overview of our bleak socio-political landscape; immigration, addiction, and the eradication of self-confidence against a backdrop of lush instrumentation and crisp production.
“I think like everybody else over the pandemic, I personally had a lot of time to think about what was going on, specifically in the world. I think that’s what sparked a lot of the revolutions and the protests that came to the fore during the pandemic around the world. Because everybody’s life was put on hold, we got a lot more time to reflect on what was happening and I think that’s where it came from. I always write from a subconscious point of view. So we had all the music done, we wanted to make it a dancey album, as you pointed out, because we wanted people to have something to dance to after sitting around for so long, but in terms of the lyrics, I sit with the music and I just see what came out and that’s what came out. That was obviously what was troubling me when I was writing the songs and I think once I figure out what the song is about, then I can really run with it and start using less of the subconscious to finish the song but usually, the things that are bothering me will come to the fore.”
“For this album, because we couldn’t rehearse and we couldn’t get together in a room we decided we’d write the music first. Usually we do it the other way around and we put all the music together first, and the lads gave me the liberty to move bits of the song around. So if I wanted to put a chorus here, just put a bridge there I could do that with the vocals. But it was quite challenging. I’ve never really done it like that before, maybe the odd song on the other albums we’ve done it like that. But to do the whole album like this, it was quite challenging. I ended up writing the lyrics maybe four or five times for each song and changing them and putting them back together again, but it was great fun. It was a great challenge and I think it’s made for a really good album.”
The band cleverly layer and craft the songs to create a consuming listening experience. We discussed how the excess time the pandemic provided gave the band an opportunity to create an album so rich and evocative.
“Yeah, yeah we had a lot of time and I think that really helped us. The fact that we could live with each part and myself, Uisneagh [Treacy] and Ste [Ward] would send each other parts like we’d write a synth part pattern or a guitar part or a drum loop and we’d be sending them to each other all the time. There’s an awful lot of stuff that we didn’t use. The parts that we left in, we feel they really worked and we spent a lot of time thinking about them and we were able to mull over it. Then we put the vocals on and then we took a few more bits out, stuff that was clashing with the vocal. So yeah, it was a great, great way of working. We’ll probably do it again.”
‘Nevada’ is such a gem and one of my favourites on the album. The track travels at an intense pace with looped drums creating a pulsing rush of adrenaline as the song ventures between dreamy euphoric tones and intense almost sinister undertones.
“We had the baseline and the drum loop and then there was a synth line that kind of an arpeggiated synth line which actually starts the whole song. Then while I was writing the lyrics, I came up with the chorus part to go to a major chord so the song opens up and you can feel a bit of hope rather than being so dark the whole time because it starts in a minor chord. So when it goes to the major cord it gives people a bit more hope. You don’t want to be too miserable and the lyrics came from when I was in Mexico with my wife who is from Guadalajara in Mexico. That’s an area where a lot of people come through. There’s a train that goes through the centre of Mexico and it carries people from Honduras and from more southern America up through and they’re trying to get to the United States and they stop in Guadalajara and they stop and they’ll ask for money or they look for food and stuff like that. So we’d meet a lot of these people and we met a man who was travelling from Honduras and he wanted to get to Nevada that was what he kept saying. I’m going to Nevada. I don’t speak Spanish but he was talking to my wife but I kept hearing him saying Nevada. She told me that he had a son, a daughter and a wife that were left in Honduras and he was going to work in Nevada to make some money and hopefully that they could join him or he’d go back with money. So that’s what the song is about. It’s me fantasising that they do eventually get together again and that he gets to see his son again. So it’s quite emotional. That’s where this inspiration came from.”
Columbia Mills are melody wizards. There is a soothing quality to the melodies on this album that comforts the listeners from the harsh reality of the lyrics.
“Yeah, for me, the melodies have to come naturally, the vocal melodies especially and I suppose the guitars do as well. They have to come very naturally or else I find if I spend too much time working on a vocal melody or a guitar line, that they just sound, they’re not as soothing. I don’t know if there’s any techniques or anything that we use, but it’s just more of a natural occurrence. The music or the melody will come into my head a lot of the time I’d wake up and a melody would be in my head or I’d be doing something completely different. I’d be working on something else and a melody will come into my head and I think by doing that, as you said they come a bit more naturally and I think people can connect to them a bit more because they’re more human, I suppose.”
‘Momentum’ is another special moment on the album. There is so much musical goodness encased in this song. The song unfolds from pulsing bass lines, chiming keys and intricate guitar melodies into a euphoric groove-infested dance tune.
“Yeah, it came from the intro. I remember Steven sent me the intro with the drum loop and that song was totally different. I remember we had all sorts of crazy vocals on it. The structure was totally different. It was like a dance track because we do work on a lot of dancey stuff. We never release it. We just make dance tracks just for the craic. We’d finished the album and we revisited that song. It was never going to be on the album and I changed it around a little bit and created a verse and a chorus. Then we put a few guitar parts on and then I just concentrated on the vocals and when we had it finished, we’d already got the album mixed by Rob [Kirwan]. He had already finished mixing the album. So we got our engineer, producer friend Mick Heffernan and he mixed it and we really loved it. So we dropped one of the other songs and moved that one in and we’re glad we did because a lot of people say it’s their favourite. “
Sonically it’s an acid trip yet there are sweet moments on guitar between all the dizzying synths and intricate rhythms. I wondered if the band ever got carried away with all the glorious immersive layers when they were creating the song.
“We can overdo it sometimes. So we need to be very careful. There are about four synth parts in that song. Then the baseline, the guitars and the vocals and then I often tend to put a lot of effects on the vocals. I think towards the end. I’m just spouting absolute garbage and we layered it all up on top of each other. I don’t think you can make out what I’m saying. I don’t even know if I know what I’m saying. I’d love to hear them isolated again. But yeah, we can get a little bit lost but we always have to pare it back and remember that people need to listen to this stuff.”
As the album progresses, the band strip away some of the disco elements and the sound becomes more delicate. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ displays this more delicate sound perfectly. Fiachra’s echoed vocals stand out above the hypnotic key refrain and guitars creating a compelling melancholic tune for listeners to enjoy.
“With ‘Imposter Syndrome’, Ste had sent me the synth line, and I really loved it and I was determined to make a song out of it. Once he’d sent me that I started playing the acoustic guitar over it, there’s an acoustic guitar on that song. Once I had the acoustic guitar and the chords figured out, I left all the electronics to one side and just sat on my own with the acoustic guitar trying to figure out a song that I could play without any of the electronics. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ I suppose that’s what it’s about you kind of feel you’re not good enough for somebody else and if you’re not good enough to be in a certain situation. I suppose we all feel like that sometimes, well I feel like that most of the time. So I built a song about that. I can’t really remember writing the lyrics. I can remember just being happy with what had been put down. The structure of the song is quite strange as well because there’s kind of a bridge at the end. So there’s not really a chorus to the song. It just kind of plods along but I love people like Roy Orbison, he used to write songs with no choruses. He’d write songs that just went along, but it would feel like there was a chorus there because each part really mattered. So that’s kind of where I got the inspiration from.”
Lyrically the band don’t shy away from real topics and they pack some punch with their hard-hitting lyrics. Our discussion ventured down the intricacies and natural flow of lyrics and Fiachra told me his lyrics flow in a stream of consciousness sometimes. I wondered if these stream-of-consciousness writing sessions need much editing in order to create the eloquent lyrical content we hear within the album.
“Yeah, I definitely do. Yeah, you’re right. I’d go off on a mad one and I’d write everything down. I’d read everything that has come out from the stream of consciousness, but then I need to figure out where the song came from, and what I’m trying to say and then I’d have to hone back some of the stuff, but sometimes I’m left with some nice stuff that I keep and I’m quite surprised. It’s like I didn’t write it, it just came from somewhere else. So yeah, sometimes, really nice stuff that I just want to keep but yeah, I definitely need to hone it in a bit and put a bit more structure on it and make it a bit more palatable, I suppose, is the word you know, so people can understand what I’m trying to say.”
‘Heart Of A Nation’ is an album brimming with solid tunes. There are many musical gems to enjoy from the emotive guitar-driven ‘House Voice’ to the moody grunge-filled ‘Feet Don’t Fail Me Now’. But Fiachra told me which of the songs on the album he is most proud of.
“Yeah, I really love this song called ‘Here With You’ and another song called ‘Fake Life’. I’d say they’re my two favourites. Just in terms of when I listened to them, they knock me down a little bit because I love the structure of ‘Here With You’. I love where it goes, and how it builds. But in terms of lyrics and what the song is about, ‘Fake Life’ is really nice. I really liked it because I didn’t see that song coming. Ste had sent me this string section and we had that for a long time and I had been trying to write a song over it for ages and we couldn’t. So I got the string section and I put it into my computer and I put a beat over it with a groove box. Then once I had the beat it was like it unlock the key to the vocal melody. Then I had the vocal melody in my head and then the lyrics all came down within like, half an hour. It came really quickly. It was a surprise to me. So I really like listening to that one.”
Columbia Mills have a tour coming up in the UK and Ireland in October. We discussed what fans can expect from this run of live shows.
“ I think we’re gonna be a little bit more dancey this time. We’ve done a couple of shows, we’ve done festivals and obviously with festivals you have to hone it in because there’s a lot of people there that never heard of us. So we were trying to grab them as well. So we kept everything upbeat. When we’re doing our own shows, obviously, we can bring in some of the more melancholy songs which I loved the most but yeah, we’ll be doing a lot more dancey stuff. We have a new drummer, Jamie Duff, he plays the drums standing up and he’s a little bit more full on in terms of making the songs dancey but we’ve left a lot of electronic beats in as well. So it’s kind of changed our sound. We’re going to play a lot of the new album and then a select few off the other two albums and we’ll see where we go with that. Yeah, it’ll be a mixture of everything.”
With ‘Heart Of A Nation’ being the band’s third album there are a lot of songs in their arsenal to play at shows and I wondered if the band found it difficult to pick songs to play live as they would all have their own favourites as well as trying to please the fans with their favourites.
“We have arguments over it a lot which is good. It’s getting better. It’s very healthy to have three albums and to have an argument over what songs we’re going to play. There’s some songs that are a given like ‘City’, ‘Close To You’, ‘Battles’, I think we always play but the rest of the songs are open to play and we also feel when we’re rehearsing you go okay, that one’s really feeling good , and we’re getting a nice buzz off it and if we’re reacting to it, we hope that other people will react to it as well and if songs aren’t working, we just throw them to the side, we’ve plenty more to pick from.”
On their third album, Columbia Mills find new and refreshing ways to express their ever-evolving sound through dancefloor bops and thrilling lyrics that express sorrow, hope and self-knowledge. The band have raised the bar with these intricately layered tunes as they take an array of shimmering synths, punctuated beats and indie rock elements to create impeccable moments of sonic musicianship that mark Columbia Mills in a league of their own.
‘Heart Of A Nation’ is set for release tomorrow October 14th. Until then stream ‘Momentum’ below
Irish electronic artist Daithí is set to release his highly-anticipated third solo record, ‘I’m Here Now’, via Strange Brew Records this Friday the 9th of September. I spoke to Daithí about how he created this mesmerising collection of tracks, the fantastic collaborations on the album, the inspiration behind his songs including the spontaneous and grounding moment that inspired ‘Keep It For The Next One’.
‘I’m Here Now’ is an immersive listening experience, each track flows beautifully into the next with ease.
“Yeah, it was an interesting one. I came at it a very different way to what I would usually do. My last two albums, I would write a whole pile of songs, maybe almost 30 or 40 songs and then I would just pick the best out of them and then try and improve on them. Whereas this album was written differently. I had two or three songs that I really liked, that I thought were really important to me at the time of writing them. Then I spent the rest of the time connecting those dots writing songs that I thought would run from one to the other in a really nice way. So it was a really interesting way to do it and I think the main reason I was able to do it that way was because I had plenty of time and I was out in the country. This was the first record where I was in my hometown as opposed to traveling around and working in different places. I did it all in the one spot in this place called The Beekeepers in Ballyvaughan, which I kind of run as an artists retreat and yeah, I just spent these big long weekends with a couple of different mates working on different pieces and getting to play different parts over it and stuff. Yeah, I agree with you it has this very kind of connecting, run altogether. You can listen to it as one big long project and there’s a lot of big open spaces with no vocals and stuff like that as well. So yeah, it was really fun to make that was the main thing, you know.”
As the album progresses the beats become heavier, more intoxicating and frenetic. However, Daithí expresses moments of euphoria through his music amongst the agitated expressive soundscapes. Tracks like ‘Polypoly’ and ‘Like The Water’ show this element perfectly and create a compelling listen from start to finish.
“Yeah, I think a lot of the songs are built around these chord structures and melodies. After the pandemic and the lockdown I think a lot of people felt there was a big kind of a question mark over everything that you were doing, and you were feeling like, Am I really here? Is this actually what I’m doing? Then I think a lot of people had these moments as well after those two years where it’s like you made these big, large kind of life decisions and I think one of mine was planning to be more at home in my hometown and stuff and on one side, I really liked that because it was out in the country and I got a really great newfound love for where I’m from. Then at the same time, I think, all kinds of young people once they move away, kind of going back to the place that you’re from.. there’s a bit of trepidation to it. So I find myself leaning into those types of melodies and those types of feelings throughout the whole thing and once I started realizing I was doing that I started leaning into it a lot more. ‘I’m Here Now’, for instance, has a whole pile of natural recordings from around that area and then I used the Concertina in certain parts as well because that’s what my grandfather played. Then there’s all these different sections where it’s like question marks of things that I found interesting in the time and the place and just trying to explore that feeling and emotion of this weird question mark that’s over a lot of people’s lives at the moment, you know”
There are interesting and unique sound bites placed throughout the album. like a creak of a heavy, rattling farm gate on the title track ‘I’m Here Now’, Daithí explained to me how he finds these little audio treasures and where he decides to place them in the songs.
“Yeah, most of my music is written in a specific way. Basically what I generally try and do, [ is ] collect up a huge sample library of sampled recordings. I’m always going around with my phone or a recorder and when something strikes me, I’ll record it but I’ll just put it into this vault of samples that I have that I’ve been building up for like 10 years. Then you can take stuff out and play around with it, and it can kick off an idea. But another really helpful thing is it’s all dated, and it’s all where it is and stuff so let’s say I’m thinking about a certain time in my life or a certain person and I think back to when I was with them last. Then I can go into my vaults of samples and find a recording that was done around that time. Then there’s all these connections from the different elements that make a really interesting collage, and then after that, a lot of it has to do with melody. I’ll come up with one melody, and then I’ll bring on some friends to write stuff and they can take their own experiences of what I’m trying to talk about, and plant their own experiences of that on the song as well. So you get this lovely collection of different experiences and inspirations throughout the whole record and it tends to be the best way to make something unique, it tends to get you away from trying to sound… well like other people, you know.”
In the album, Daithí has a wonderful array of supporting artists – Ailbhe Reddy and Sinéad White (‘Sunset’), David Tapley of Tandem Felix (‘Polypoly’), Uly (‘Like The Water’), and Neil Dexter (‘Keep It For The Next One’). These collaborations elevate each song and create a unique refreshing aspect within the track.
“So for this record, it was a bit different again, so I had this place Beekeepers in Ballyvaughan and basically I would pick a weekend and then I would pick maybe one or two people, like two very good artists that I knew, who knew each other and we just kind of whisked them off to this place in Ballyvaughan and get them to spend a weekend just literally playing around with stuff and kind of toying with different things and showing them the different tracks and seeing what immediately resonates with them. It was a really good way to work I think because if you have two different really good artists people tend to try and egg each other on in different ways and as long as they’re comfortable with each other it becomes this really nice positive experience and I had a really good weekend with them, Ailbhe Reddy and Sinéad White, who have played together and done loads of different things. Ailbhe’s an amazing guitar player, and Sinéad is an amazing piano player as well as being really good vocalists, so they could jump on different things at different times. You know, like Ailbhe might be writing a vocal lyric and then Sinéad will be toying around on the piano and then suddenly you just start trying to record everything at once and you start getting this big rush of ideas. It was a really good way of working because it was just bringing really nice people together, having a really nice time and a private location. Yeah, it really got the best out of those artists you know, which is great.”
‘Familial’ is a mesmerising track and stand-out moment on the album with soothing melodies and lush electronics that build and become more intense and psychedelic, it’s a track that lingers in the listener’s head for days.
“Yes, so ‘Familial’. Yeah, I built that drum beat on a drum machine and I had been kicking around with it for ages. Then I’d gotten another synth that I was playing with, and I was adding in those extra ideas. That’s those little bloopy key ideas. Then I had gone back to Clare for a good while and I was exploring all the stuff that my granddad had worked on. My granddad passed away a couple of years ago and just when he passed, I was trying to learn more about him. He was an amazing concertina player and I knew so much about him from a personal level, but I was getting all these different people coming up to me from the traditional Irish music world telling me different stories about him and I started going back down through all the people that he worked with throughout the years and I found this very amazing, like very, very old Sean-nós sample kind of based around those times, and for some reason, it just really stuck with me. Then I thought about how you would fit Sean-nós into electronic music and I put a massive auto tune on the Sean-nós so that it stuck in with the melodies that I had. So it was this weird moment where I was just like, is this like heresy is it like something that really works, which excited me a lot because I was like, oh my god, I’m putting auto-tune on Sean-nós it’s like the weirdest thing ever. Then that’s how I got that vocal melody that’s there. It has this lovely Irish lilt to it, but also it has a hip hop feel to it as well. So that was the birth of that track for sure.“
One of my favourite tracks on the album is ‘Keep It For The Next One’. It’s a beautiful tune that pivots around fuzzed beats, lush textures and ethereal soundscapes. The song provides a lighter take on Daithí’s dense expressive sound.
“That one came together really quickly. It was kind of amazing. It came together in the space of two days. So Neil Dexter is the vocalist on that. I had heard a couple of his songs before but I hadn’t really met him properly. He came up to The Beekeepers with David Tapley who’s a very good friend of mine. He’s in Tandem Felix and David was in my last record. They both came together and they were bringing some instruments up that they thought I wouldn’t have. David Tapley brought like a pedal steel you know, like a real country western pedal steel. We ran that through a whole pile of different electronic effects and that’s how that starts off. You can hear these kind of pad sounds behind it. That’s all pedal steel. It’s kind of an amazing story on the record, actually because Neil had arrived and it was only about two or three hours at The Beekeepers and his wife was pregnant at the time. She’s a nurse and she actually got a bit faint and had to sit down at work. So she called him and there was this amazing moment where we were all here in this lovely idyllic location and there was something really serious going on and once he hung up the phone, he was like Yeah, I think she’s okay, everything’s fine. My mother’s gone over to her. That’s all fine. Then we had this long conversation about how when we were in our early 20s, we didn’t really have that kind of responsibility so we could do whatever we wanted and now that we’re slightly older, you know, we’re up into our 30s now, life has changed so much and he literally just went over to the microphone and just started singing into it. That’s where we got the lyrics from. So it was one of those really great, amazing moments where everything just kind of clicks in this big inspirational way, and he was on fire at the time. Yeah, I love that track as well. It’s definitely one of my favourites. Can’t wait to play it live. It’s gonna be really fun.”
Daithí doesn’t do anything by halves. His music is immersive and rich and the videos to accompany his music follows this trend. Filled with cinematic visuals ‘Familial’, (courtesy of award-winning New Zealand filmmaker Ayla Amano) is a short film in itself that presents the well-worn fractures of a family through the strains of a father-son relationship and ‘Sunset’ is another touching film directed by Michael-David McKernan and features the American actress Annie Ryan (who was in the seminal 80s film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). It’s a beautiful, touching film that follows a woman in middle age coping with loss and grief in the most poised and hopeful way.
“Yeah, a lot of my good friends will be video directors. One of my best friends is Brendan Canty, who’s a very well-known music director and he does a lot of shorts and adverts and stuff like that. So the culture of doing really good high-quality videos has always been there. Then my partner of two or three years is Norman Howard, who’s a very well-known film producer. So I’m very lucky to be surrounded by an awful lot of people who were involved in the film world and stuff like that. So getting directors on to do that stuff was super important to me, and I think when you make a video there’s so much work involved and so much kind of toing and froing and so high risk to make sure that it’s like really good and it kind of solidifies a track a little bit more. ‘Familial’ is a really interesting one. So Brendan, my friend is married to Ayla Amano who is this amazing New Zealand director and they were in lockdown in New Zealand and that’s where that video was filmed. It was all filmed in New Zealand while they were over there, and then ‘Sunset’ was all filmed in The Burren. We threw a film camera into the sea with a waterproof box and got this amazing feeling of what the West of Ireland is like when it’s at its absolute best you know when the sunsets going down in Fanore Beach. So yeah, it’s always been a big thing for me and I think it really elevates the songs”
Daithí has a solid fan base. He told me how excited he is to be able to go out and tour this album and share it with his fans.
“Yeah, It’s brilliant, the tour is the biggest tour I’ve ever done before. I’ve never really been on a proper tour of England or anything. So that’s one of the really exciting things about it. We played Body & Soul this year, and it was just this massive show and I still had everybody that I had from before the pandemic coming to the shows and stuff and it felt really, really special. So getting out on the road and really performing them is one of my favourite things to do, you know, so it’s going to be great. Yeah, yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. “
“ I think most artists realize there’s a good bit of responsibility involved in making sure that people have a good time at a show you know, as you get older, you’re consciously aware that it’s a really big thing for somebody to go out of their way and actually go to a show, so I feel I have a really big responsibility to make sure that it is the absolute best that it possibly can be to make it worth people’s time. I feel that if you do that and you consistently do that, and they know that they’re going to a good show, they’ll stick by you and a really good audience is really loyal as well and that’s so important for an artist to keep going you know, so I see it as a big responsibility to always make the shows as best as I possibly can and to always just keep making them better and better and better.”
Daithí has made a name for himself as a pioneer of electronic music and I asked him what advice he would give to an aspiring musician.
“Yeah, that’s a good one, it’s hard to make the career, that’s the hard part. I think my biggest advice would be to get really good at playing live to be honest because, as far as I could see, like I’ve been extremely lucky that I’ve gotten to be able to be a musician for about 10 years full-time. But the only way I’ve ever been able to do that is by touring and doing loads and loads of gigs as much as I can. So as early as possible if you can get out and build a scene around yourself with people, other people playing and try and play as much as you can, the experience of doing that will stand to you so much over time. Once you start going then, you just have to really like playing gigs and going around and travelling. The other obvious one as well is just surround yourself with really good people. One of the best things about being a musician is that there’s a brilliant, beautiful scene and it’s a really good way to meet new people and it’s such a sociable experience. So yeah, surrounding yourself with really good people and really amazing musicians is a blessing and super important as well for sure.”
‘I’m Here Now’ is a joy to listen to. Daithí has an impressive ability to create tunes that excite the imagination and thrill the senses. The album is a musical marvel and cements Daithí’s reputation as a trailblazer for electronic music.
‘I’m Here Now’ is set for release this Friday. Until then check out the video for ‘Sunset (feat. Ailbhe Reddy)’ below
Hudson Taylor’s eagerly-awaited third studio album ‘Searching For The Answers’ is set for release on June 3rd. This album is a glimpse into a more personal facet of Hudson Taylor and musically the album is a triumph. Filled with bittersweet melodies, earnest lyrics and gentle instrumentation, this album might come as a surprise to fans who loved the fast-paced catchy ditties the band have become known for.
I spoke to Harry Hudson-Taylor about the maturing and natural growth of the album, his debut main vocal song which features on the album, as well as the duo’s return to touring.
“I’d say its a whole host of different things influencing it. I obviously couldn’t really not factor in the whole big you know, that thing that happened there for the last couple of years, the big C. I think that affected the chilled way that we approached singing. You just start singing differently, when you’re at home and you’re not playing in gigs all the time, playing in front of people in loud venues. It’s like, you desire a little bit of a more chill thing, but if anything, for us….[it] just felt more natural. It’s our third album as well, the first one that’s the one you get to work on for years before you actually release it. Then the second one, it’s the hard, second album and we were really lucky with that, we were lucky with what it did for us, except we didn’t get to tour it at all because of the pandemic. Then with this third one, Alfie and I actually didn’t speak for the rest of 2020. Basically,the pandemic came and all of our shows are cancelled. We’ve been living in each other’s pockets, you know, emotionally, physically, financially, for 10 years, and just naturally, without either of us saying anything, we just didn’t really speak for the rest of the year. Then the start 2021 our record label were like, Yo, do you lads have anything? We want to do another album with you and so at the start of last year, Alfie and I got together over a zoom call and just discussed what we want to do, and if we were going to do it, how we would want to do it. So this is the combination of that. Essentially, half of the songs were written by Alfie, half of them were written by me initially and then we shared our favourites that we’ve been writing over the past year and collaborated on them to finish them and turn them into Hudson Taylor songs.”
I wondered when the duo reunited to write the album if Harry and Alfie slipped back into the old way of doing things or if it was very different once they had that break.
“It was very different for a couple of reasons. I mean, one was that we weren’t in the same place. Alfie lives in the UK at the moment. During the pandemic, I moved to Berlin, Germany and so we actually wrote the initial stuff over zoom and Dropbox, sending each other ideas and helping each other finish them. The first time we played any of these songs together was in the studio so that’s different because in the past, we’d be playing songs on the road, we’d be touring them, we’d be practising them, we’d be refining them. These are songs we’ve never played live so it was very different in that sense but also just the wealth of experience from getting a chance to just chill out and reflect having been pretty much back to back constantly on the road or promoting something for the previous 10/ 12 years. So there was a bit more time to reflect, there was a bit more time to question what we want to actually say, who we want to work with, how we want to do the album. The guy we worked with Luke Potashnick, to bring this stuff over the finish line, he’s a chap that we wrote with. We wrote a song in 2015 and we really wanted to work with him back then… with this third album, the record label were a bit more, you know what, lads, what do you want to do? and that was beautiful. We came up with a plan. We said we want to work with this person [Potashnick]. We said, realistically, we think we can get the whole thing done by this date and they were just like cool, here you go, here’s some money, go and do it. So it was in many ways a huge breath of fresh air to get to work on a body of work, fully having creative control over it, and working with people who we love.”
The title ‘Searching For The Answers’, is a perfect title for this collection of songs and similarly, the title track is a beautiful representation of the duo’s musical and lyrical growth. The song is earnest and delicately composed and uses the sweet harmonies of the brothers, warm guitar, steady beats and pristine piano embellishments to highlight themes of longing to great effect.
“Oh yeah, we had a good feeling about that song from the off. It was actually written about three/four years ago, on a break from touring. It was the only song that we brought, from the past. All the other songs were written in 2020 and 2021. That one was floating around since 2018, or ’19. It was written with a really good friend of ours, Jack Morris, and another friend, our bass player in our band, Ronan Sherlock, and Alfie’s partner Gabrielle [Aplin] also helped. So it felt like a really nice community that represented me and Alfie’s two part harmonies, structure around the song. It was one of those ones that came out of a jam. It didn’t sound anything like the production that you hear now. It just was piano and guitar but yeah, I think that song encapsulates the whole thing really well. Not just lyrically but also the sound, it really captures the two part vocals, the harmonies, and it was entirely recorded live as well. So there’s a few songs on there like ‘Searching For The Answers’ is one of them, ‘Overloaded’ is another one, there’s about six songs on there that were recorded, entirely live and you wouldn’t know it. I’m really happy about that.”
There are plenty of well-placed thoughtful slow burners on the album. ‘Overloaded’ in particular is a heartbreaking musical gem. With just soft vocals and twinkling piano, the duo create a raw, stripped back tender tune to indulge in. The song, however, encases some surprising musical treats within as it builds to an eerie and dark crescendo.
“That one was written in the studio. Actually, the two main singles, ‘Hold Out Hope’ and ‘You Me Myself’ were written in the studio and ‘Overloaded’ was also written in the studio. So we actually came in only wanting to do 10 songs and we came out with 12. Essentially, ‘Overloaded’ it was written just at a certain moment. Alfie sat at the piano and started doing this back and forth piano thing and we wrote a song and it had themes about relationship toxicity thematically it’s like dealing with mental health really. A good few of the songs on the album really have mental health themes, and that was one of the ones that was mental health-related and everyone will relate to it differently. The people who wrote it was myself, Alfie and the producer, and we all had our own different ways of interpreting what was going on. For me, that song spoke directly to a relationship that I had been in that was really painful and toxic. For my brother I’m sure, he was bringing his stuff in and then the producer, I think around the same time there had been, a death close by. So it was very much cathartic writing for all of us that just came out in the moment, written over a few hours, recorded and that was it. The instrumentation just felt right. We were taking influences from like Radiohead, for that song, just this kind of eerie stuff using some weird synths. Yeah, really fun. To be honest a lot of that stuff was just instinctual. It was not really a decision like, Oh, well, this is definitely going to have this instrument on it. It just kind of unfolded. A lot of the time, the producer would be mixing, or just cleaning up something that we’d record and then one of us would be in the background, holding an instrument and playing a note or something and then we’d be like, Oh, that’s cool. Let’s put that in there. “
“Me and Alfie, both coming from different perspectives being able to marry them to [create a] Hudson Taylor song, you know, because the songs could be in theory, solo songs from Harry or solo songs from Alfie sometimes, and it’s just like we decide between us. We either say Oh, do you think that could be a Hudson Taylor song or just leave it for some future project and we made a good few decisions like that. That led to us refining what we ended up choosing in the end.”
It feels as if the band eased listeners into this generation of Hudson Talyor. The singles released this year give a glimpse into different facets of the album from the peppy ‘You Me Myself’ and the most recently released ‘Hold Out Hope’. They hint at something special and different but maintain a hopeful and upbeat tone.
“Yeah, in some ways we give our finished body of work to the record label and they’ll have their pick and we’ll have our pick and it seemed like they aligned in some ways. We probably would have chosen slightly differently. I think ‘Honest’, was our favourite collectively, between me and Alfie and the producer. We thought that was probably the strongest and so it’s cool it got released and actually in some ways we were affirmed because it got really good traction by the different digital service providers, putting it on playlists and stuff. So that’s nice to know that your, own instinct can get affirmed by it. But in terms of the choices, from the get-go, we were all like Oh yeah, these ones are definitely doing the right thing. Getting a song put on some radio stations, regional radio station can just be really helpful for us for when we want to do a show because then you’re in people’s consciousness or you know, oh yeah, those lads were on the radio, that kind of thing.”
“But in this case, though, none of the songs were written with that kind of angst that we used to have when we were younger, where it’d be like oh God we need to make this thing, it has to be for the radio.A lot of that stuff, just with time and age and I guess some of the immaturity has evaporated a good bit. Obviously always having an ear to the ground and to hear for yourself and be critical and be like, oh yeah, this could have a bit more commercial success perhaps. But really, for me, definitely, I can say, I just felt really proud of all of the stuff we wrote this time. There was no compromises made. It’s just like, No, this is what we’re doing and we’re enjoying it and if people like it, great.”
“Actually, I got so much healing out of just not caring too much whether other people would find it appealing. It was just a really nice experience for connecting deeper to our truth, you know, and me and Alfie as brothers as well getting to basically have a bit of a conversation through the music.”
For me, ‘You Decide’ is a special moment in the album the harmonies are beautiful and the ambient textures and warm guitar show how Hudson Taylor don’t need much instrumentation behind them to create a compelling listening experience.
“That’s my first time ever singing a song in lead and [in] Hudson Taylor as well.So yeah, there’s no other songs on there or really ever before in Hudson Taylor where I have a lead song and that’s a song that really I wrote and brought for the project. I’ve always wanted to have a song that I sing, because Alfie tends to be singing the lead most of the time and over the years I’ve been building my confidence to do that. So just really happy about that song. I think it really represents a moment in time in my mind and in my experience and getting to share it and having Alfie sing on it and just again that was one of the ones that was recorded live as well. I just really enjoyed that experience.”
Harry explained the mixed feelings that come with releasing his first main vocal song.
“Yeah, I am a bit nervous. But I’m also excited. I’m excited because down the line me and Alfie will end up doing our own stuff outside of Hudson Taylor and for me to know that there’s something out there at least that represents the timbre of my voice… I love being able to sing harmony, but you know, this was like cool. It’s was nice.”
Hudson Taylor have announced an Irish tour which will be the duo’s first tour since 2019 and includes a 3Olympia Dublin headline show on Saturday 4th June.
“Yeah, cannot wait because we’re playing some of these songs for the first time. We have rehearsals just before the tour and then we’ll be playing some brand new songs. We’re playing some of the ones that have been on the radio now in Ireland, and then just doing the old ones. We have a slightly different band lineup and stuff though. It’s really exciting for us. Just to get home as well, as I said I live in Berlin. So it’s any opportunity to get home, I aways want to get home you know.”
‘Searching For The Answers’ is a captivating body of work. There are elements of soul, jazz, pop, blues and more all delicately blended into an emotive album that lays bare emotions of loneliness, anxiety, joy and love. It’s a fantastic album that showcases the ever-growing talent of Hudson Taylor both as a duo and individual artists.
‘Searching For The Answers’ is set for release on June 3rd.
Ambient electronic trio Dirty Dreamer have released their glorious debut album ‘The Everyday in Bloom’. I caught up with two-thirds of the band Daithí O’Connor and Louise Gaffney to chat about the album, creating music with their improv style and their upcoming show in The Workman’s Cellar.
Filled with ambient soundscapes and lush textures ‘The Everyday in Bloom’ was four years in the making mirroring the band’s relaxed pace in meticulously creating each song.
Daithí: “Yeah, just taking our time. There was no rush on it really, we were just having fun and obviously the pandemic happened and all that. But even before, we were just having fun and really had no timeline. I think that was something lovely about this. There was no timeline as such or any pressure at all because we’ve been in a situation before that we set aside that time to write and that time to record all that kind of stuff. This was all a little bit more natural, laid back, I suppose.”
The band were part of the choice-nominated electro-folk outfit Come On Live Long. Dirty Dreamer showcases a different side of the trio. I wondered if it was exciting and liberating exploring this new sound.
Louise: “Whether it was a premeditated change or not I’m not sure. When we started this project, we didn’t even really call it a band for the first little while. We sort of went away and we were playing together and improvising around different sounds and a key part of it was we all changed our instrumentation a little. We were all trying different instruments a little bit as well. So it was really slow figuring out what we liked and what we wanted to pursue. That happened before we even put a name on it as a project. When we started realising it had a sound of its own, and it seemed that we had been crafting that, that was when we were like okay, this project now needs a name and it needs, a look and feel as well as maybe a goal, not necessarily deadline but definitely a goal and we started recording basically everything we did from that point, once we had that sound. We just pressed record on every rehearsal session and started gathering a huge archive of recordings.”
The songs on the album at times appear to refer to the beauty of the world around us, and the importance of taking in the small moments of serenity between the chaos of modern life. However, Daithí and Louise explained to me the album isn’t intentionally a concept album.
Daithí: “ I would say no, I don’t think it’s a concept album. there are threadsthrough it. We would write and rehearse all after a day’s work. We come in here in the evenings so all the highs and lows of the day just anyone’s day, kind of informs everything else. So maybe you could tie content onto that, I suppose.”
Louise: “I don’t think there is, the songs all have their own micro themes within them. Some of them maybe link and some of them maybe don’t. But if there’s a concept in there it was the way of writing actually. So all of the origins of each song just come out of hours of improvisation. So just literally free. Someone might do something someone responds to it, and then someone adds a thing and all of a sudden it starts to build into a song or starts to approach something with a bit of structure. Because we recorded everything that happened in the room, for every rehearsal session we had or writing session we had, we’d have a couple of hours that we would go and listen throughout the week. We would take the sounds, everyone would listen and then highlight little parts that we thought we loved or thought we could work on again and revisit. So as a process that was really new. Having, individual time to listen and decide what was working and what maybe wasn’t and then to come back next week and go again.”
The band created a lot of material over the four years. We discussed how overwhelming the task of filtering through all that material was.
Daithí: “ Yeah we have hours and hours of stuff. So what would happen is, we play and jam away here. Then Ken [McCabe], who’s not here at the moment, he was like the archivist and he’d be the filter as well. He would listen back and say, I think this is good, I think this is good. Then he would send it on to us two. Very often there was loads of that and there was weeks where you would just constantly be doing new stuff. You’d have to go back and say hold on, let’s just put the brakes on now because we have folders and folders of so much stuff and we’re just gonna keep writing new music. We need to stop. So for maybe a month, say, one in four months, we would put the brakes on and develop those ideas a little bit more. Then when we got tired of doing that, we would come in and say okay let’s work on that song we were doing two months ago. But then what we always do is we start off playing and then we would just play for the rest of the evening. We wouldn’t actually come back to that. So we had to be a little bit strict on ourselves to say okay, let’s stop improvising and playing and let’s put a bit of structure on it. “
‘The Everyday in Bloom’ is an ambient album filled with soft instrumentation, hazy synths and ethereal soundscapes. ‘Caddy’ is a fine example of this. The track revolves around a wonderful vocal melody accompanied by subtle guitar, earthy elements and electronics. Though the song is filled with intricate instrumentation the trio manage to maintain a sparse and light atmosphere throughout.
Louise: “That one’s an interesting one because it could be the oldest one on it. That would have been a really old archived recording that Ken had written just the guitar part for. It was resurrected when we were in the middle of maybe…. we’d maybe done a few of the other tracks and I remember it in an email thread and I pulled it up and was like this was really cool. We should maybe try to work this… when we brought it back, we just played it a lot in the room and just tried to see where the melody is going to come from, where all the other instrumentation is gonna sit, how it will layer up to make it more interesting. So it could have just been guitar and vocals and nothing else but it has a lot of ambient stuff going on in it.”
Daithí: “ That recording is recorded live in this room and I didn’t know it all that well. So I’m looking at Ken constantly to see what he’s doing on the guitar and I’m following him. Which is something that we’ve never done. Usually, when you go into studio, you know every note that you’re going to play. It’s premeditated, you know what to do. But for this one it was kind of just very reactive. I was definitely reacting to what Ken was doing. I had to look at his hand constantly to see what he was going to do next. But it worked. That’s the recording that you hear on the album”
Louise: “I think in terms of a song where you’re using words to create meaning somehow, that’s the one that I always go back to as maybe one of the more coherent songs because it does have a really strong theme and it’s about something and it’s a story told over time, in a way that maybe some of our others aren’t maybe as explicit. So I always liked listening to that one myself and quite pleased with the writing side of it”
‘Downhill’ is another special moment within the album. The distorted intro is a bit of a shock when you first hear it, especially after the peaceful and soothing nature of the previous track ‘Caddy’. It beautifully shows the experimental nature of the band’s music as they momentarily break away from the tranquilising wall of sound of previous tracks to inject a dash of edge into the album.
Daithí: “Again, that comes back to what Louise has mentioned before, a kind of stepping outside your comfort zone and find a new territory. That sound is just off a piece of equipment that we use all the time in this room. We knew we wanted to incorporate that because it’s the sound of the room. It’s the sound that we make in the room so we knew it had to be recorded. I suppose it might be difficult for the listener, maybe at the start because it’s quite a juxtaposition sound, quite… harsh ..to start and then the guitar comes and that’s what was nice about all of this. Before we would have second-guessed that and said oh they’re two really clashy sounds and for somewhere else, it might not have worked but where we are now is in a huge rehearsal space.There are loads of bands playing all the time. So when you’re walking down the corridor, you’re hearing the sound of loads of bands inside a room. So the soundscape going down to the kitchen for cup of tea is massive. So that definitely fed into it. “
Dirty Dreamer have masterfully created an album that captures the free expressive nature of their sound. The ability to capture this element of their art in a piece of music let alone for an entire album is sometimes a difficult task for artists. However, Dirty Dreamer have pulled it off spectacularly.
Daithí: “Yeah, That’s it. That’s the mission accomplished for saying that yeah “
Louise: “Yeah it’s a really interesting thing. I only happened across it recently in a podcast and it got me thinking but that’s exactly what we did there. There was this psychologist she was talking about how you have to use a very childlike free state of mind to create something original. Then you need to use a very different mindset to edit it.So if you’re already using your edit brain when you’re trying to create, you’re not going to get very far down the road or you won’t get somewhere interesting. So it reminded me [ of us ] – the improv its the child brain, we don’t actually police ourselves and we just do whatever. Then there were those months where we would act different in the room and itwas all business we’d all be sitting at the table and that struck me, that is the process that we use, you know, we didn’t try to edit in the moment or try to think about the outcome. Because it didn’t matter. It was like we were generating so much, the outcome, we couldn’t even think about it in the moment.”
Daithí: “It’s striking the balance between that I suppose”
Considering the trio were working on these songs for over four years, I wondered if all the songs had evolved and taken new directions since their first inception.
Daithí: “Good question. I would say some have, some definitely haven’t. The likes of Caddy again. That sounds like when we played it in the room. We played it a couple of times, but it really didn’t change all that much.“
Louise :“Yeah. ‘Did You Think I Would Forget’, that longer ambient one. That changed quite a lot over time because the initial idea was a different type of track. It wasn’t a song structure as much as it was a soundscape and so it had to evolve over time to get somewhere interesting. We were working with a small little nugget of something that needed quite a bit added to it. So that was quite different.”
The track ‘Anywhere’ was the one that sparked my previous question. It is a beautiful song with balmy guitar and soft dance-like beats. The track’s soft layering and melodic progressions made me think the song had been meticulously crafted and could have originated as a different concept altogether from what we hear on the album.
Louise: “That is a good question. That song was kind of like that”
Daithí: “yeah, that I suppose went through a couple of iterations. The thing that got us with that was the arrangement. The sound was always there, butit’s just the arrangement as to what goes where. That was recorded quite a lot.“
Dirty Dreamer are set to perform live on Thursday 2nd June at The Workman’s Cellar. We discussed what fans can expect from the show
Daithí: “So the idea for the live show is to recreate what we do in this room. But put it on a stage. Now, obviously not like the constant tea breaks and stuff like that but to have it quite fluid, like it is in here and try and represent that as best we can in the live environment which is what we’re trying to do at the minute and it’s loads of fun.”
The live show promises to deliver the same experimental and free approach the trio took to create the album resulting in slightly changed versions of the songs.
Daithí: “Yeah, exactly changed versions of the songs and then trying to see how we can link songs together without a break.
Louise: “Yeah even allowing space for us to actually improvise a little bit where there’s longer pauses that we can noodle around and find that same improv that we would have used to create the songs somewhere in the live set, in between the more structured pieces.”
The band experimented and learned a lot about themselves and their music during this process. I asked Daithí and Louise from their experience so far, what advice would they give to a budding young artist.
Louise : “ I can only speak to maybe the lessons I’ve learned as opposed to solid advice. I think that big one of not worrying about the outcome too much comes back to me constantly because that just scuppers you so much and it’s the one thing you want to do when you’re trying to start. It’s like I want to make an album or I want to make an EP and that’s really to be thought about later. You got to go in and create a load of stuff first before you start aiming for that and know what you’re about and what you want to sound like. You have to play a lot and play with other people, involve other people that’s a huge thing. Find your people that you want to make music with because it’s lonely on your own.”
Daithí: “ Find people on the same wavelength and spend time playing – just play and don’t worry all that kind of stuff. That’ll come and if the music is good that will all fit together. Yeah, don’t worry too much about the outcome because if you’re into music, you’re into music, that’s the bottom line. It’s not about all the other stuff, if that happens, that happens it doesn’t really make a difference, you’re still going to be in a sweaty rehearsal room jamming away”
Dirty Dreamer have a unique and experimental sound that is raw and melodically rich. They don’t shy away from allowing their artistic unconscious write the music. This lucid way of creating is what makes ‘The Everyday In Bloom’ such a compelling album. It’s a wonderful listening experience filled with expressive soundscapes, hazy atmospheres and refined musicianship.
Award-winning composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fitzpatrick, aka Badhands, is set to release his second album ‘Far Away’ on Friday, 1st April 2022. I caught up with Fitzpatrick to talk about the album, writing during the pandemic and plans for his upcoming full-band album launch in Whelan’s main room on Saturday, 9th April 2022.
“It’s not really a concept album, most of the songs were written a few years ago. So I guess if there’s any consistent themes, it’s just from the nature of whatever was going on at the time, but no there’s definitely no real kind of overarching concepts to it.”
‘Far Away’ is a sublime easy listening experience as Fitzpatrick ventures between classic rock and indie with some pop sensibilities. ‘Quiet and Still’ is a fine example of this. Oozing elements of classic rock, country and an irresistible melody, the track pivots around an ominous beat while twinkling guitar flickers throughout.
“That song, it’s so long since I’ve written it. I wrote that about four or five years ago. This is the thing with this album, I was supposed to have it done and out really before covid hit. Then it was a nightmare trying to finish it off during covid. So, there was a couple of songs that I rewrote, like ‘Wasted’ which I would have written the lyrics for during Covid. So there’s, a couple like that, that I kind of feel [ are ] a little more current to me. Funny, a couple of songs on it now, I wrote them so long ago I can barely remember much about them, which is very strange. It’s a very strange thing to just be releasing it now, you know”
“When I was trying to finish off the album early in covid I got quite disillusioned with it. I was listening to it and I [ was ] just like these songs don’t really mean anything to me now. It was such a strange time I was like, what’s the point of any of this? I just took a break from it. I ended up doing a different project, a concept piece about the oceans, which was a five-track EP and I got really into that then, recorded and released it after about a year. Then when I came back to the album, it did have more of a freshness and I was into it again, and I finished it. It was around this time last year, [ I ] probably finished it and it did seem a bit more fresh to me again. Then we did a gig last year and playing the song live with the band again, you know, gave it a new lease a life. So thankfully, I did fall back in love with it after a period of really just being disinterested, kind of disinterested in anything I was working on at the time, it was a strange spell.”
“It was weird, funnily enough at the start of it, I was really productive. I was writing a lot. I was working on stuff and I really thought it was having quite a positive effect on my work and productivity so for a while that seemed like a benefit. Then there was spells, like this time last year, January, February, March last year, I just found it impossible to work. I couldn’t do any of those I was just absolutely lethargic and drained so it was just a real funny up and down experience. unlike anything, I’ve ever experienced. Well, unlike anything any of us have experienced before, I guess.”
The album was recorded chiefly at Ailfionn Studios, with musicians Chris Barry, Tom Cosgrave, Aoife Ruth, Ken Mooney, and David Tapley. We discussed how these talented musicians bolstered Fitzpatrick and helped him with any difficulties he went through.
“I’ve been really lucky, it’s pretty much that core band now, Chris, Tom, Aoife and Ken and then there is also David Tapley from the band Tandem Phoenixso he’s been pretty much full time in playing as well. They’re all just amazing musicians and they bring their own unique elements to the party. I’ll go in with a song and then – take that song ‘Quiet and Still’, for example, really just hinges around this delayed bass thing, you know, which Tom came up with so as soon as we went in, he just started doing that and then suddenly the song was just built around that because it’s like a heartbeat, you know, it just suited it perfectly and that was just something he came up with in the rehearsal room. I love that, it’s great when somebody else adds something and suddenly it changes you know. The song is suddenly a completely different beast when that happens”
Each song exudes warm melodies that are soothing to the ears. But there is a dark, ominous undertone that broods throughout the album.
“I think, especially with lyrics, I find a lot of the lyrics I write seem to come from maybe a place of anxiety or something like that. I think when people write often, for whatever reason, different aspects of their personality come out. So a lot of the time whatever you’re writing doesn’t necessarily define youor sum you up as a person. I guess the darkness in the song probably has something to do with, being anxious or self-conscious about things. So even something that I’m writing that might be a love song or something, always seems to have an undercurrent of just tension or anxiety in it. I guess that’s where that comes from. I tried to balance that with the music because say a song like, ‘Wasted’ would be one where the lyrics are extremely downbeat, but the music contrasts with it. It’s pretty upbeat. So, yeah, it’s always trying to blend that so it’s not just depressing or just miserable. I’m generally a fairly cheery person, but I think if you listen to the lyrics on my music, you probably wouldn’t think that”
The piano is a prominent instrument on the album and Fitzpatrick manages to convey many emotions and textures with just the piano alone. Fitzpatrick explained how he wrote some of the songs on piano.
“I used to write mainly on guitar. I think, for the most part, I tend to write everything on piano. Well, it’s a mix. I might start writing something on the piano and then I’m sitting down with a guitar and coming up with bits on that. But yeah, I think now for the most part it’s usually on piano and especially now we are just close to finishing a third album. We went in with the band in January. It was actually just after I’d watched the, The Beatles Get Back and I loved it so much. I got onto the band and they’d all just watched it as well and everybody was just really keen to get in and do something. So I just booked thestudio even though I hadn’t fully finished the songs and really knuckled down and tried to get the thing finished. Then we went in and I did this one really piano-based. I was playing just a grand piano and we did it all live in the room and it was great. So the new album is especially piano-led on a lot of the songs”.
There are plenty of memorable moments on the album filled with passionate, evocative musicianship and poignant songwriting. However, the dark and theatrical elements are intriguing aspects in Fitzpatrick’s songs and a theme we continued to return to when talking about the album. ‘Atlas’ is a perfect example of this. It has a Tom Waits ‘Little Drop Of Poison mixed with Nick Cave Red Right Hand Vibe’. Fitzpatrick expresses this wonderfully through ominous piano and intoxicating soundscapes.
“ Yeah, I’m a big Tom Waits fan. Actually, ‘Atlas’ was one that I did right at the start. In fact, I have quite a vivid memory of writing that. It was, I’d say maybe a week into the covid hitting and lockdown. So I can really remember that specifically, I was just in my room all the time with the piano. I remember writing that song at that stage. So I guess it was a bit of an ominous time. It was a mix of things going on that probably inspired that one”
Lyrically the tracks are deep, well thought out and profoundly expressive. Fitzpatrick explained to me he strives to express genuine deep thoughts through his music.
“Yeah, I never really set out to write any particular lyrics. A lot of the time I wish I could write about certain things or certain types of songs but anytime I tried to do that …it just never works. I think you can hear that in music when you hear a song from an artist or something. You can just tell maybe it doesn’t seem totally from the heart or genuine and that’s what I’ve felt anytime I’ve set out to write a specific type of song. So I just stuck with whatever comes really and that’s why that I feel sometimes you know the lyrics I’m writing, I find sometimes this is a bit repetitive or this is a bit depressing or something but it’s just…I find with the lyrics, anything that I write, that hasn’t come natural tends to be pretty, pretty bad for the most part.”
‘So Alive’ is quite different to the other tracks on the album. It’s more experimental and psychedelic and the track sits snugly between ‘Atlas’ and ‘They Know You Better’. On hearing the album each song holds its own and warrants its place while blending superbly into the album’s aesthetic. Fitzpatrick explained how he struggled to decide on the tracklist order.
“It was in some respects. Yeah, there was a couple of tracks I found hard to place like ‘So Alive’, ‘Quiet and Still’ the last song [Take Me Far Away] which were I guess just a little bit more understated well not so understated its got strings on it. It felt more understated than some of the other tracks and I tend to find them harder to place, I guess than the ones that have a lot of you know, gusto or something in them. But I always had it in mind for ‘Atlas’ to flow into it. So in that respect, I at least knew that those two songs would go one after the other. So that was at least some help. For a couple of the guys in the band that would have been one of their favourites. That would have been one I wrote on guitar just with that picky riff or whatever. Initially, it was quite a stripped-down piece, which I had toyed with but then you know, as is often the case, less is more but then you just keep adding more. Then suddenly it’s like, throw a lot of strings on there and you’ve got this big, psychedelic orchestral thing but I was happy with how it turned out”
Fitzpatrick has a launch for ‘Far Away’ with a full band show in Whelan’s main room on Saturday, 9th of April and he told me what fans can expect from the show.
“Well, probably a lot off the upcoming album for sure. I’d say that will be the dominant one. I think we will try and do one or two off the one [album] that we just recorded and then a couple of hits off the first album. Now we are playing with the six-piece band for the bigger gigs, it’s great. Aoife who plays in the band she does keys and violin and she’s really great. When she switches over to violin she has a lot of weird effects and stuff. She’s a bit like Warren Ellis, [Nick Cave and] The Bad Seeds. So that’s always a nice aspect. But yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. I look forward to actually arranging some rehearsals and getting everyone in because it’d be rare that the six of us all play together. That would be a thing for, you know, a show like this or whatever. But you know, for the most part of doing other gigs it’d be a four or five-piece set up so it’s great. It’s great to get to play with a full complement, but it’s rare enough.”
‘Far Away’ is a musically rich and deeply immersive album. Each track is a joy to listen to and highlights the expressive sound, refined musicianship and eloquent songwriting of Badhands.
Amahlie have released their debut album ‘Sentimental Animals’. Amahlie is a collaborative indie folk project brought to us by songwriter ‘Lucca Cardoso’, and an all-star cast of global musicians to bring his vision to life. While Amahlie is centered around Lucca’s intimate songwriting, his international bandmates provide orchestral flourishes and imaginative arrangements to give each song a sense of wonder and purpose.
‘Sentimental Animals’ is a mellow ambient album chiming with the sweet supple musicianship of Amahlie. Soft melodies drift upon intimate wispy soundscapes allowing each track to effortlessly flow into the next creating the ultimate easy listening experience. The album has a soothing quality as each song tells the story of a person who falls in love but is destroyed by their own anxieties. From the honest account in the elegant piano ballad ‘Avalanche’ through to the lush twinking guitar and innocent melody in ‘The Abyss’ Amahlie lays bare all the emotional twists and turns in a relationship.
The songs lift the listener up in a wave of passion and moving emotion through expressive and refined musicianship. Through meaningful songwriting, warm guitar moments, intricate bass and immaculate keys the songs address the complexities of life in an atmospheric and ethereal manner. The arrangements are airy and light while packing in oodles of emotion and tenderness causing a soothing cushion for the mind.
With folk elements glimmering through the plucked delicacy of ‘Two in the Morning’ Amahlie showcase another graceful aspect of their angelic indie soundscape. From the start right through to the last track ‘Wake-Up Call’ ( with its cosy glow on guitar and simplistic arrangement ) Amahlie take us on a journey of incredible happenings and intense realisations through the medium of evocative and magical musicianship. ‘Sentimental Animals’ is a wonderful album to treasure.
I caught up with The Coronas frontman Danny O’Reilly to talk about their new album ‘True Love Waits’ which is set for release on July 31st. We talked about the new direction of the album, its intricate production, and missing the buzz of live shows as well as his collaboration with Gabrielle Aplin,the pressures of previous success and much more.
A quartet for 13 years, last summer The Coronas became a trio when guitarist Dave McPhillips unexpectedly left. Briefly they questioned whether to continue but, once the shock had subsided, something dawned on the Dubliners. If they weren’t the band they used to be, why make music as they always had? – the result is The Coronas’ new album ‘True Love Waits’. The album is set for release on July 31st and Danny is eager to let fans hear the album and see what they think.
“ Yeah absolutely I mean we finished the album in January, early February we signed off on everything and we are really proud of it. We have released four or five songs off it already and it’s getting a great reaction so yeah we are really excited about getting it out. Initially with the lockdown we postponed the release just by a couple of months then we weren’t sure when gigs were going to come back and as we saw that they weren’t going to come back any time soon we said alright there is no point in delaying it any longer, lets just put it out there. I think there’s an appetite there for new music and we can see a serious engagement from our followers online so it felt right to get it out and then we will wait for gigs to come back, hopefully it won’t take too long.”
The band have taken a different approach with this album.They have some brass and a lot more keys and sonically the album takes a cleaner less band heavy approach.This was a natural evolution for the band as they experimented with what their sound is without their guitarist Dave McPhillips who left last year.
“Yeah it’s sort of organic for us usually we tend not to talk about those things too much we let the songs lead us and if it suits the song to be a bit more guitar -y or if it suits the song to be a bit more synth- y we will try and do it that way but it was really working with our producer George Murphy in London. We had worked with him before and he’s brilliant he knows the band he knows our strengths and when we sent him the bunch of demos the reply he had to each song was so bang on.We were just getting excited at his email, I forwarded on his email to our bass player, I was like George listened to the demos, look what he has to say in each song and it was just crazy how much he was in our heads. We had the same ideas even though I had just sent the demos I didn’t really say anything about them, his comments on them and where we should go with them was exactly what we were thinking so straight away we knew it was good.
We did work with two other producers as well Rob Kirwan in LA for the first batch of songs. Rob was brilliant as well, but it just made more sense to us financially as well as everything- we couldn’t get back to LA to finish it off and George was great and then we worked with a great Irish producer called Cormac Butler as well and then George sort of put the whole thing together and again we didn’t overthink it. We wanted it to sound cohesive we wanted it to sound like one piece of music and I think with Dave leaving last year as well that sort of led us to evolve without even trying too hard.We knew the album was going to sound different with a guitar player leaving who always had a good input in the songs so in a way that sort of took the pressure off. We could just follow our instincts and try and do what we thought was best for each song.”
The album still has the massive choruses, melodic hooks and passion that The Coronas are known for however the backdrop is tighter, perhaps more refreshing as the band grow their sound, softening the guitar and rhythm driven backdrops we have come to know from them and opting for a more spacious, relaxed and well paced sound. For instance in ‘Haunted’ there is a light beat and delicate electronic element between the soft keys and sweet desert rock guitar melody. But the band don’t belt out all these elements together; they take each part and allow it to flourish and grow at a steady pace to create a wonderful and expressive atmosphere in a delicate and subtle way. I wondered if this was what the songs and songwriting warranted or something they actively tried to achieve in the studio.
“ I think it was a bit of both. We definitely had ideas from even the initial demos and for the first time we actually ended up keeping some of our demos and some of the sounds on the demos because often when you write a song it has a little magic and if you try and change it and redo it you can almost make it worse. I think when Dave left the band last summer I opened out my song writing to loads of different friends as opposed to taking on the burden of just being the main writer myself. I started writing with different friends of mine and opening out some of my ideas and I think that all came into play as well and the songs started taking different shapes.You’re right though these subtle sounds and stuff, again we didn’t spend forever it was organic in the studio and thankfully we were all on the same page.”
Title track ‘True Love Waits’ is the first song on the album. The track epitomises the theme The Coronas wanted to portray.
“I think we knew it was going to be the first track on the album and Knoxy our bass player suggested it as the name for the album even though that’s probably the only I’d say love song on the album but it has a bit of positivity. A lot of my lyrics I think thematically on the album are sort of about self improvements and the journey, trying to get somewhere, trying to be the best person you can be, the best brother you can be the best band mate you can be and a lot of the lyrics have that sort of thing.I think ‘True Love Waits’ had that as well. In a way it’s like you’re trying to get somewhere and you’re being optimistic that you will get there and it will all work out in the end sort of thing and it seemed to be a nice little phrase to encapsulate the mood of the album in a way. “
‘Lost in The Thick Of It’ is one of the album’s highlights, a beautiful duet with Gabrielle Aplin, written in Brighton with Gabrielle and her partner Alfie Hudson-Taylor. I wondered how that collaboration came about.
“ Gabrielle is a friend of ours so I literally went over to stay in her house in Brighton. Her and her partner Alfie Hudson-Taylor invited me over just to hang out last summer. We have sang with them before but we have never actually sat down, well I’ve written with the Hudson Taylor lads before but myself, Gabrielle and Alfie have never written together.
We didn’t put too much pressure on it we went just to hang out, chill and then we took the guitars out in the afternoon and ‘Lost in The Thick Of It’ came so easily and that’s how it happens, it’s a good sign I suppose when the good songs come quicker. Straight away I was really excited about it and it was just one of those natural things.We worked out the chords and the little piano riff and I brought it to the guys and Gabrielle is such a talented melody writer as well and she straight away started singing the chorus and I was like ‘oh my God this is great!’ It came together very easy. I did a good bit of work on the lyrics afterwards and based the lyrics around the sort of sounds Gabrielle had been making in the original demo which was her just sort of mumbling words that didn’t really say anything but I was hearing little lines come out of them.
Often that’s how I write lyrics. When I’m writing melodies myself I just mumble words that sort of fit around it and then all of a sudden, oh thats a line!, maybe the song is about that and it will sort of lead me in that direction.That’s the way it came together it was great and we are so happy to have her feature on the album as well because initially we were just writing the song as a co-write and I was writing for Coronas stuff but then it sounded so good with her voice we were like you have to sing on this and thankfully she did and hopefully we will get to do it together live sometime.”
It can be important for artists to collaborate with other artists, to bring diversity to their writing style or sound and Danny really enjoys the opportunity to see what other artists bring to his songs.
“I think it is great, you know in general the Irish music scene is very strong and I’ve definitely seen it grow and the support that is there is amazing. When we started out I didn’t do many co-writes at all. I used to write all the songs myself. It’s only in the last couple of years really. I think co-writing can be difficult. It’s such a personal thing there is a lot of ego involved.
I think collaborations in general are great and we had lots of people playing on our album. We had Larry Kaye from All Tvvins who played guitar, Dave our old guitar player played some guitar as well, Cian (MacSweeny) from True Tides played some guitar and did some backing vocals and my sister Róisin did some backing vocals and we just sort of opened it out and had lots of different people involved.
That was just good for us after Dave left as well. It just made sense to open up the family a little bit as opposed to ok just the three of us are going to be here doing it. I think if it’s beneficial for everyone it’s only a good thing but co-writing can be a tricky thing and I’ve only gotten a bit more comfortable with it in the last few years.
Also the other thing I find about co-writing is when you write a good idea if your messing around yourself and you write something yourself you want to finish that song straight away and then the little bits that you bring to a writing session usually are the leftover ones that didn’t excite you as much but what I’ve tried to do in the last couple of years is when I write something that I think is really good I’ll sort of bank it and not finish it off myself and bring it to friends of mine so everyone is excited about it and they are like ‘oh that’s really cool’ and then we start from scratch with that sort of enthusiasm.
That’s what I did with ‘Lost in The Thick Of It’ and with a lot of the songs on the album even ‘Light Me Up’ our new single. I had the chorus written and I brought it to Cian and he was like ‘ah the chorus is cool man’ and we just started working on it. So I think not using up your good nuggets is important if you’re co-writing with people and also writing with talented people that you are comfortable with, as I say, we are lucky that we know a lot of them.”
The Coronas have had quite the career, their thirteen-year journey has definitely been unique with a handful of multi-platinum selling albums and a huge fan base in Ireland and abroad. However the bands previous success does not weigh heavy on Danny. He doesn’t feel pressure to match his previous work
“ I think the longer we do it the more I appreciate that it is actually something to be proud of that we have been together for so long. When we first came on the scene we were a young student band getting loads of radio play and there was a slightly older generation like the Frames and BellX1 and stuff that I loved you know, Republic of Loose and we were the new kids on the block. Now I feel we are at that stage and there is a whole new wave of bands coming through you know the likes of Picture This, Wild Youth and The Academic with just amazing music. So to be honest I don’t feel pressure.
We always put pressure on ourselves to try and write good albums, to try and write good songs. The only time I felt pressure was when we moved back from London before ‘Trust The Wire’ came out. We had a bunch of songs that I thought were good but I really didn’t think we had enough and usually writing under pressure isn’t good, for me anyway. I like to have a bit of time and space but thankfully right at the end of that process I wrote ‘We Couldn’t Fake It’ and ‘Give Me A Minute’ which became two of the big songs on ‘Trust The Wire’ – actually no – ‘Give Me A Minute’ in fairness was earlier, but it was ‘We Couldn’t Fake It’ and something else towards the end, I think it might have been ‘Gut Feeling’ or ..yeah, I can’t remember what song it was but I definitely remember writing two or three songs right at the end and I was like oh thank God we needed them, we needed an album starter and ‘We Couldn’t Fake It’ was it.So I felt a little bit of pressure that time.
I think it was the closest I’ve ever been to have a little bit of writer’s block or something… I mean in my early twenties I used to write a song in a day no problem and I’d just move on and I thought that was just an age thing but this year I’ve been writing a lot more and even late last year when I wrote 70% of the new album since last summer. I was definitely going through a creative burst. I think it can come in waves and you just have to be aware of it but that’s the only pressure we put on ourselves really.
One thing we didn’t put pressure on ourselves with this album was we were trying not to write pop radio singles like we used to. There was not much point in us trying to compete with the likes of Wild Youth and Picture This and try to get student radio when our followers have grown with us. We’ve been around for 10 years and the people who come to our shows are of all ages. We’re not just trying to get on daytime radio anymore we are trying to evolve.
I think as we get older we are grateful that we still do it and thankfully touch wood up until now we’ve managed to keep selling tickets which is the most important thing really.Fingers crossed that continues to happen when gigs come back.”
‘LA at Night’ is a perfect closing song. It’s very evocative and beautiful. The trio dabble quite heavily into the electronic pop scene with beat machine pulses. Danny discussed how he wrote the track and how its simple arrangement transformed into something quite special on the album
“That was one of those songs that came together very quickly. I wrote it in Dingle County Kerry. We toured America in probably November, end of 2018 and we finished up in LA and I was really tired after a long tour.I’d just been through a break up and was emotionally drained and we were meant to fly home and a friend of mine who I was hanging out with in LA was like why don’t you change your flights and stay for a few days and I just had a really lovely few days in LA. She showed me around. It was really nice and I came home then and I felt like I needed that.
I went to Kerry and I wrote the song very quickly. It’s one thing that the guys, George and myself did well I think because I wrote it on piano it was a pure ballad and we didn’t really want to change it or for the production to get in the way because it was a nice song, but we didn’t want it to be just me and a piano and strings. We wanted it to fit into the album as you say. I was really happy with the production that George did on that song in particular because if it was just piano and vocals I think it might have been borderline cheesy you now, like a lot of my songs. But that one it’s got a simple message about if your wrecked or tired you can have something that will just make you feel better, you can have a couple of days with a friend or whatever it is and then all of a sudden you realise that its going to be ok.”
Like many bands and artists The Coronas have had to cancel shows this year. As a band who are popular for their live shows and energetic performances Danny is experiencing some withdrawal symptoms from lack of gigs.
“Oh my God so much.You have no idea.For us gigging is the centre point of what we do. It’s my favourite thing in the world to do.We are praying that it’s going to come back. We have thought about possibly doing social distancing gigs or even drive in gigs or whatever and it just doesn’t really sit right with us. You just don’t know how they are going to go.At the moment we are just trying to bide our time and wait for it to come back and hope that it comes back fully and properly.
It’s one of the things we are missing immensely. We’ve been putting stuff online and we recorded the full album in a studio, played everything live and filmed it as well so we will be putting that on our Youtube channel as a sort of launch I suppose for the album but thats all we can do. Usually we are doing a lot of promo at this time, then you’ve got a big gig that you are looking forward to as well. It’s strange but I think it will hit me when all the promo is done and the album is out, like a week later it’s going to hit me like a ton of bricks, like oh my God I’m not going to get the payoff of having a few amazing gigs.
We had some big festivals lined up and big gigs so anyway we will get on with it. We are luckier than most and we should be able to ride it out. Hopefully gigs will be back next year and there will be as much if not more of a demand than ever. “
Also, just like the rest of us Danny is spending this crazy time sharpening his culinary skills and binge watching TV
“I’m watching a lot of Netflix. I got a dog yesterday… Jess is amazing. She’s a mixture between a Collie and a little bit of Rottweiler but she is beautiful and I got her in the DSPCA and she is the best. Yeah I’m baking and cooking and 5ks so I’m a total cliche”
The Coronas have had a lot of success and experienced every aspect of the music industry ( labels, learning about production and improving songwriting) along the way. I wondered what advice Danny would give to his 18 year old self now that he can look back on a significant, interesting and successful career.
“I would say enjoy it. Enjoy your twenties appreciate it a bit more maybe. Not that I didn’t appreciate it but definitely, I’ve been thinking wow we are so lucky. In our early twenties we were sort of going with it and having fun. I don’t have any regrets. I wouldn’t have too much I would change.There is always a bit of, what if we signed to a label at a certain time would we have gotten bigger but there is no guarantee. I think the most important thing is we have a great career, we are doing music and I’m happy. We could be in a bigger band, you could be Chris Martin and still be miserable.There is no guarantee that if you have success you will be happy..You put your happiness on things if you say oh if only this happens then I’ll be happy and if only I get this I’ll be happy.
You know when we started out all we wanted to do was play Whelan’s and some stage at an Oxegen festival. The goal post continued to change and that’s good. It’s good to be ambitious but I think you can put your happiness on that. Some people equate their ambition with success but you have to enjoy the journey. You also need to be able to pat yourself on the back sometimes and say you’re doing alright. I’d say to my 18 year old self Danny you’re in for a good life you’re lucky.”
Hopefully The Coronas can tour the new album soon. It’s a cohesive well paced album that flows seamlessly as a whole. The bands mature and evolving sound definitely makes for a chilled and emotive listening experience with some catchy tunes on there too.
‘True Love Waits’ is set for release on July 31st until then check out The Coronas’ latest single ‘Light Me Up’ below
Jack Rua, the ambitiously bold and innovative Irish Glam-pop artist, is set to release his debut eight-track mini-album, ‘Narcissus’ on June 26th. ‘Narcissus’ sees Jack Rua team up with producers Porridge, LOGUOS, Mattu, Tenderhook. and Rouleaux. Following the internationally-praised releases of ‘Scarlet A’, ‘Ego’, ‘Rise’, ‘Curious’, and the albums fifth and final single ‘Reflection’ released earlier this month the album charts the singer-songwriter’s journey after he graduated from college, moved away from home to New York City and broke up from a long-term relationship.
‘Narcissus’ wraps, contorts and dazzles as Jack Rua brings a vivid array of influences from glam rock, house and pop to create a full bodied, shimmering and utterly infectious collection of tracks. There is much vibrancy within as Rua entices the listener right into the album’s dark epicentre while keeping the danceable infectiousness alive throughout with wild dance explosions and slick glam rock swagger. It’s quite the enjoyable power pop gem.
‘Narcissus’ sets the Jack Rua experience in motion. He doesn’t do anything in half measures and his debut album is a sublime example of how Rua has mastered his craft through meticulous attention to detail and layering. Luring dark and eerie, Rua entices with flashing beat pulses before erupting into an implosive, tense EDM soundscape. ‘Narcissus’ is an intriguing start to the album and a fine display of Rua’s musicianship. He superbly teases and builds tension in his tracks, fermenting thrilling electronics to create bubbling coiling soundscapes of fragmented synths and dramatic electronic progressions. The talented Darce joins Rua for the sultry ‘Rise’.Well placed risqué lyrics are cooled by Rua’s soft vocals while the sticky electronics smother the backdrop in a humid haze. Darce’s raps punch through the sensual electronics as the track simmers and smoulders in a bubbling pop vapour.
Lyrically ‘Narcissus’ is a coming-of-age album which juxtaposes the joys of self-discovery with the personal and global anxieties you feel when you get a bit older.‘Curious’ playfully challenges binary thinking in terms of sexuality, beckoning you to “stop paying so much attention to your labels” and embrace “a new world” while ‘Ego (with LOGUOS)’ expresses a newfound appreciation that the artist began to feel for himself. The theatrical finger clicking and sultry ‘Scarlet A’ marks a turning point in the tracklist where Rua dives beneath his ego and explores the deeper and darker parts of himself. All this is set to an invigorating backdrop of dubstep elements, punchy rhythms and intoxicating electronics.
LOGUOS and Rua are quite the musical dream team, creating a shimmering summer pop anthem with crisp, infectious production and the passionate, euphoric musicianship of ‘Ego’ is quite the radio ready summer bop.
The artist’s scramble to be remembered in ‘Forget Me Not’ is deftly expressed through gripping, intense, intricate layering embellished only by the incomparable musical flair of Jack Rua. Each song exudes vibrancy and expressive musicianship to create the ultimate dance pop album ready to tantalize the listeners ears.
The album takes a turn with the melodious ‘Reckless Abandon’, however rather than brooding through a moody ballad Rua whacks out a dance infused 80’s anthemic number with lamenting guitar strides and power pop gusto. The harsher guitar elements slice through the pop mirages as the song spirals into a disco hued swirl of confusion. There is still composure within the track which is impressive. It’s a song about the despair that can occur in a situation wherein one can suddenly lose complete control. Rua displays passion through the coiling entwinement of this music. His vocals remain emotive yet composed.
The beautiful ‘Reflection’ brings the album to an end. Rua cools the tone for his finale ruminating on who he is and whether or not he likes what he sees in the mirror. With wispy electronics and a heavy thumping beat he closes the album after a whirlwind of acceptance, experimentation and self doubt to almost start it all again. Rua’s vocal delivery is simple with as little fuss as possible allowing the lyrics and his soft tone drift over the ethereal backdrop. It’s a powerful thought-provoking song to close a frantic and colourful album.
‘Narcissus’ is a fabulously fun and deeply personal album. Jack Rua announces his debut album with musical flair, prowess and compelling dance pop. This talented artist is fearless. He is not afraid to express his vulnerability and that is a quality to be admired. He is certainly an artist to keep an eye on. His tunes are a rebellious, catchy and wholly satisfying listening experience. I’ve witnessed Jack Rua blossom as an artist. Each track he has released to date has grown and built his rich, bold and intriguing sound to create a moving and unique collection of tracks that is polished and refined. He has become quite the dance pop connoisseur.
‘Narcissus’ will be released on June 26th until then you can stream Jack Rua’s recent single ‘Curious’ below
David Keenan is set to release his debut album ‘A Beginner’s Guide To Bravery’ tomorrow, Friday 10th January. Keenan has self-released several EPs and singles, opened for Hozier all over the UK and Europe and had a week-long residency at The Irish Arts Center in New York. ‘A Beginner’s Guide To Bravery’ was recorded in a week of live-in-room spontaneity at the Hellfire Studios in the Dublin Mountains overlooking the city. Known for his intensity, lyrically rich and powerful tracks Keenan delivers a debut album like no other.
‘A Beginner’s Guide To Bravery’ dives deep into conflicting emotions with relentless stamina while it’s tender moments and witty quips soothe and brings joy in the most unusual ways. Keenan’s sublime melodies and intriguing instrumental arrangements allow all to enjoy his rich musicianship. ‘James Dean’ kick starts the experience. The Sean-nós style vocals maintains Keenan’s unique appeal as he ornaments his melodies and holds his own with little accompaniment. ‘Unholy Ghosts’ is a refreshing vibrant ditty filled with lively instrumentation as the animated sway and catchy chorus boasts traditional Irish charm with a contemporary twist. ‘Alter Wine’ is the pinnacle moment of the album. Intense, fermenting and luring with a hint of innocence throughout – it’s exceptionally crafted and masterfully written. That sublime string melody both builds tension and laments with a sweet weeping quality through the sticky beat, delicate keys and pining guitar. The vocals articulate disdain, lust, passion and anger all while delivering the most striking and epic expression in the album with confidence and poetic depth. ‘Love In A Snug’ has the task of following its powerful emotive predecessor. Taking this duty in its stride the song tenderly broods to start with simple accompaniment before building superbly into a sing-along anthem.
The characters within his tracks have been everyone at one time or another as Keenan narrates his stories with flawless commitment. The piano accompanied ‘Tin Pan Alley’ portrays this superbly. The piano twinkles and elegantly laments with warmer tones flickering throughout. Each track is just as lulling as it is powerful, the soft brooding intros lead the way to compelling choruses.Every track on the album takes its time, some gliding past the 6 minute mark. Keenan allows them to flourish as they wish. ‘Eastern Nights’ stripped back presentation is a time stopping moment within the album as the guitar backing delicately glimmers behind Keenan’s striking vocals. ’Origin Of The World’ is a slow burner with a sparse almost haunting backdrop as it builds to its vibrant crescendo. The enigmatic thud of ‘Good Old Days’ swirls with themes of reality and poverty. Mourning strings layer the track in a nostalgic tone as Keenan’s poetic view looks at the past with a modern perspective .
Keenan fleshes out his emotive songwriting with ‘The Healing’ – a sprightly number which is twisted within its seams as Keenan weaves compelling arrangements with dramatic strings. It’s a joy to listen to. The potent ‘Subliminal Dublinia’ brings the album to a close. Starting at a strolling pace the track flickers with warm guitar as strings and piano are added into the mix. Keenan’s expressive vocal delivery is powerful within this track with the resounding line “occupy the city with original ideas” echoing the tracks end leaving a thought provoking impression.
‘A Beginner’s Guide To Bravery’ is a powerful thought provoking album. Keenan looks at the world through the eyes of his characters creating songs of nostalgia with honest moments and emotive chills as he builds and crafts his music with a maturity and majestic quality that is to be admired.
‘A Beginner’s Guide To Bravery’ is out tomorrow Friday 10th January
Watch the video for ‘Altar Wine’ below
Author : Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
