Release ‘Breathe’ EP & video on 9^th April

 Online concert from The Limelight, Belfast on Sat 17^th April

Beoga are back with a five-track instrumental EP entitled Breathe, released on 9 April. From the earthy vibes of ‘Origins’ to the invigorating joy of ‘Up’, each track in some way reflects the global upheaval over the last twelve months and the personal experiences of the band members. Produced by the band’s own Seán Óg Graham, Breathe is an EP that reflects a melting pot of emotions and influences held together by that unmistakeable Beoga sound.

The EP opens with ‘Origins’, a reflective air symbolising the hopes of a new year and new beginnings, featuring delicate piano and lush string lines amidst a pensive melody on accordion. ‘Disarray’ has darker, grungier textures with distorted electric guitars, drums and synths. ‘Up’ features a sample from the incomparable Maya Angelou, the iconic American poet – ‘Just like hopes springing high, still I’ll rise.’ This is followed by ‘Fired’ a meditation on climate change and the human role within it. ‘Breathe’ closes out the EP; vocal samples project a sense of meditative calm whilst fiddle and accordion provide a trad undertone throughout.

Beoga thrive on approaching Irish traditional music differently, whether that’s on production or by mixing genres. Breathe continues with that same adventurous spirit and along a path Beoga embarked upon with their May 2020 mini-album Carousel which introduced new audiences to Irish music.

Singer Niamh Dunne opines, ‘The record started out with fragments of ideas. In the last few years as a band musically we’ve taken a lot of twists and turns; we figured an instrumental EP would give us the opportunity to bring everything together in terms of a sound that captures where we’ve come from, as well as where we are now.’

Beoga was formed in County Kerry in 2002 at the All-Ireland Fleadh and the line-up features Damian McKee on accordion, multi-instrumentalist Seán Óg Graham, pianist Liam Bradley and Eamon Murray on bodhrán, with Niamh Dunne joining in 2005, on vocals and fiddle. After five albums, a shortlist for a Grammy and numerous international tours, Beoga reached a wider international audience as a result of a chance encounter with Ed Sheeran, Foy Vance and Johnny McDaid. This led to the band co-writing Ed’s massive hit ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Nancy Mulligan’ from his album Divide. They also performed as Ed Sheeran’s only special guest on his headlining Glastonbury performance and supported him on his Irish stadium tour in 2018.

Gigging opportunities have been thin on the ground in recent months, but Beoga are proud to present an exclusive online concert broadcast live from The Limelight in Belfast on Sat. 17 April. This show should have been a live show and we all know why it now isn’t, but the band didn’t want to let their fans down so it has been reimagined as an online concert. The show will feature music taken from their extensive catalogue including Carousel, as well as some brand-new music from Breathe. This concert provides a unique chance to see Beoga perform live in their hometown from anywhere in the world, along with a live aftershow hangout, the one-time opportunity to buy exclusive new merch, and the option to create private ‘houses’ to watch from with your friends. For more information go to https://www.momenthouse.com/beoga

In addition, both of Beoga’s planned April shows in Belfast & Dublin are being rescheduled till November so any ticketholders for these gigs can hang onto their tickets as they will remain valid for the November shows.

Saturday 17 April, 8pm           Online show Live from The Limelight, Belfast. Tickets

Thursday 25th November       The Academy, Dublin    Tickets

Friday 26th November            The Limelight, Belfast    Tickets  

Spotify / Apple Music / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter

Releases his ‘DIM EP’ on 16 April

Plays a global stream from St. Mark’s Cathedral at 7pm on Sun. 25 April

Grief can be messy, painful, and dark, a brutal process that rarely offers straight through its shadows for those mourning the death of a loved one. But for Brian Fennell, the writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist behind SYML, he found comfort not only by leaning into his grief, but writing through it.

DIM, his latest EP out April 16, is a “loss exploration” for him, a potent meditation that manages to make even the most personal tragedies feel intimate and universally understood. Fennell — who released SYML’s self-titled album in 2019, with his breakthrough single, “Where’s My Love” — was on the road with Dermot Kennedy in the spring of 2020 and had plans to spend most of the year on tour, but those were abruptly halted due to the merciless spread of the coronavirus pandemic. At his home in Seattle, he revisited some of the lyrical sketches and compositions he had been working through in the preceding months, all interpreting loss in different manifestations. “True,” a captivating R&B groove, ruminates on a disintegrating relationship, while the haunting title track was inspired by survivor’s guilt. His father’s health was declining after a long battle with cancer at that point, and “Stay Close,” the first track on DIM, brims with raw, desperate emotion as he literally pleads for more time while examining his own bond with his children (“One lifetime is never enough / You’re more than my heart, you’re my blood”).

“This EP is largely about losing those close to us,” he says. “Calling it DIM really applies to the light we carry during our time here. When those lights go out, it’s this sort of dimming process, but rather than living in that sadness — even though I think that’s a really healthy thing to do, to stay in that cozy, warm blanket sadness sometimes — it’s about honoring what that light was, and realizing that there’s still that same light in all of us that are still here.” 

In the following conversation about DIM, Fennell digs deeper into the inspirations that shaped these songs, the growth this EP represents and why he considers it to be one of most fulfilling projects of his career to date.

www.symlmusic.com

New album 100 Snow White Horses out now!

“well-structured, melodious folk songs that resonate with specific, acutely observed Irish storylines.” Tony Clayton Lea, Sunday Business Post

“Inspired by the bardic tradition, Spillane penned his 12^th album in gratitude to patronage found on the road…this is perhaps Spillane’s best set of songs since Will We Be brilliant or What? In 2001.” Steve Cummins, Sunday Times 

“John Spillane, startlingly alive to the breath of nature, is among the last of the great bards. 100 Snow White Horses is a balm to soothe sore souls…” 9/10 Will Russell, Hot Press.

Renowned songwriter and musician John Spillane released his album 100 Snow White Horses on 2 April. The eleven songs on the album are full of melody, poetry and mythology, featuring Pauline Scanlon’s gossamer-like backing vocals and produced in London by the legendary John Reynolds. It is a shining record with a fairy-tale feel and an atmosphere of fantasy and enchantment, allowing the listener to escape from the daily grind and into another world full of wonder.

John wrote the songs on 100 Snow White Horses in the Irish bardic tradition, in gratitude for patronage by various communities, festivals, and artistic events that he has been privileged to be part of in the last four years as a travelling songwriter and composer. A strong theme of Irish mythology runs through the album. The title track is a visualisation of a mythical event suggested by the name of a classic traditional air called ‘The March of the Kings of Laois’. ‘We Come in the Wind’ is based on the 3 Imramma or Wonder Voyages of Irish Literature; The Voyage of Bran, The Voyage of Maeldun, and The Voyage of St. Brendan. In exploring the rich world of Irish mythology John feels part of a centuries-old Irish tradition that continues to this day.

John explains, ‘These songs are my love songs to the island of Ireland. I have been inspired by her poetry and melody, history and mythology. Travelling as a bard from town to town, singing songs and talking, I have discovered an Ireland of deeper and deeper levels. These lead down underground, through ruined castles and fairy forts, through Irish music, slow airs and ancient ornaments, through Bardic schools, through the Irish language, beyond Christianity to a place where history turns into mythology, and where poetry and melody turn into truth. This is the island of my imagination.’

John Spillane is a native of Cork, a place he lovingly describes as ‘the centre of the universe’, and started his career playing with celebrated Irish trad band, Nomos. He left the band to pursue a solo career and is a two-time Meteor award winner for Best Folk/Trad act. With an extensive back catalogue, beginning with the 1997 album The Wells of the World, his songs have been covered by Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane and many others. Twelve albums later, John is set to release his first independent album in 20 years, 100 Snow White Horses.

100 Snow White Horses marks the fourth collaboration between Spillane, Scanlon and Reynolds, following on from John’s albums Hey Dreamer (2005), The Gaelic Hit Factory (2006) and My Dark Rosaleen and the Island of Dreams (2008).

100 Snow White Horses is the culmination of years of adventures, research, conversations, laughter, experience and inspiration and John couldn’t be more proud to introduce the album to the world.

100 Snow White Horses is available now to pre-order on CD & Vinyl from Music Zone in Cork and Golden Discs nationwide.

THE PAPER KITES: ROSES

“If you were to walk along a busy street, and something caught your eye – something small that had no business being there – but you picked it up and put it in your pocket.  You couldn’t say why, but for some reason, you kept it with you. To me, that’s our music” – Sam Bentley

Ever the quiet achievers, The Paper Kites (frontman Sam Bentley, vocalist Christina Lacy, guitarist Dave Powys, drummer Josh Bentley and bassist Sam Rasmussen) return with their 5th studio album, Roses (out March 12, 2021 via Nettwerk Records).  With their brand of weather-beaten ballads and rain-drenched pop, the ten album tracks bleeds with gentle significance, full of power and sentimentality.

Featuring a powerhouse of female accompanists in Lucy Rose (UK), Julia Stone (AU), Nadia Reid (NZ), MARO (PT), Aoife O’Donovan (US), Rosie Carney (IE), Ainslie Wills (AU), Amanda Bergman (SE), Lydia Cole (NZ) and Gena Rose Bruce (AU), Roses is the first collaborative release from the band.  “I had written these songs and had always wanted to do an album like this, but I remember almost scrapping the whole project because it felt too hard. It was about finding the right voices for the songs – artists that couldn’t just sing but had something deep and moving in the way they sang – and that’s not every singer – it’s rare,” Sam explains.

The opening track “Walk Above The City” features prolific Portuguese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist MARO – who in 2018 alone released six albums, toured internationally as a part of Jacob Collier’s live band, and has been under the management wing of legendary producer Quincy Jones.  “I remember Maro was the first artist that agreed to be on the album, which was perfect because she was the first artist in a long time who stopped me in my tracks when I heard her sing. We saw her play in Munich with Jacob Collier and I’d never heard anything like her voice. I didn’t find out until we connected a few months later that she was a fan of our band. It was really special to do that song with her.”

“Climb On Your Tears” features Grammy award-winning US bluegrass artist Aoife O’Donovan, who is well known for her solo albums, as the lead singer of bluegrass/string band Crooked Still, and features on records with Chris Thile& Yo-Yo Ma. “We were really lucky to have Aoife, she’s an American treasure and such a beautiful voice, for some reason I felt we needed a bluegrass singer on that song even though it wasn’t indicative of the genre – but she loved the song and was excited to be involved, her voice is amazing – you can hear that bluegrass soul in her singing,” says Sam.

New Zealand folk queen Nadia Reid features on “Take Me Home.”  Sam recalls the challenges of trying to record an album as the world shut down.  “We managed to fly Nadiaover to Melbourne to record that song just before both of our countries closed their borders – we didn’t know it was coming, she had just released her third album and had a huge tour lined up that she had to cancel. I don’t think she knew that was the last time she’d get to travel internationally or record in a studio that year, but I’m certainly glad we could get her here to do that song. There’s something moving in that song.”  Similarly, much loved Melbourne artists Ainslie Wills & Gena Rose Bruce were both able to record in the studio with the band before the city was locked down. 

The band reached out to all corners of the globe to their collaborators, some long-time friends like New Zealand’s Lydia Cole on their song “Dearest.”  “Lydiais truly one of my favorite songwriters, I’d been looking for a reason to have her involved on one of our records for a while, but this was the first time we were able to. For her and all of these artists, I hope this album can also be a gateway into discovering their music,” notes Sam.

Australian legend Julia Stone, better known as one half of brother/sister duo Angus & Julia Stone features on the conversational duet “Without Your Love.” “I grew up listening to Julia’s music and some of her work was pivotal in turning me down the road I went – so to approach her and have her love that song and want to sing on it was an amazing full-circle moment – she’s such an important figure of the folk revival in Australia and I don’t think we would be a band without them leading the way. It was a real honor to work with her.”

“For All You Give” was recorded with UK songstress Lucy Rose in a small upstairs room while the band was on tour in Brighton last year, a tour that would inevitably be the last they would be able to do for some time. Despite the limitations on travel, the band pushed on with finishing the album by asking artists to record from home in whatever way they could. 

“I remember Rosie Carney recording “By My Side” on the floor of her London flat she was so concerned that she had no idea what she was doing – she wasn’t used to having to record without an engineer present and I think felt it wouldn’t sound good enough – but it’s remarkable what we can achieve these days in terms of collaborations and home recording technology from the other side of the world – she sent her vocals over and they were so beautiful.”

As well as approaching artists that they knew and loved for the album, certain songs gave way to discovering new artists. Such was the case with Sweden’s Amanda Bergman. “‘Crossfire‘ was a song we got stuck on, I couldn’t find a vocalist that I felt was right for the song, and I was just scouring the depths of Spotify but couldn’t find anything until one day I somehow came across Amanda Bergman. Her music is so good, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her before. I managed to get in contact with her, she lives out on a farm in remote Sweden and luckily had a studio on site. She recorded it and sent it to us – her voice is incredible – so much depth and soul, we were so glad to have her on that song.”

Produced by Sam Bentley & Tom Iansek (#1 Dads, Big Scary) – Roses is a testament to sincere, patient, and understated songwriting. A deeply moving collection of songs, helmed by a cherished selection of artists. 

The Paper Kites deliver one of their most earnest and thoughtful albums, a treasured record to pick up off the busy street and keep with you.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

THE CORONAS

Announce ‘Nowhere We’d Rather Stream – Live From the Olympia’

at 8pm on 12 December

The Coronas have felt the rollercoaster of emotions that 2020 has brought; from the disappointment of cancelling their world tour, to the thrill of their album reaching a No. 1. One constant that has always been present in the bands lifespan, however, is their special Christmas shows at the Olympia Theatre, and this year they don’t plan on letting a unfortunately named virus ruin the party.

For many people, these shows have become an integral part of the annual festivities. Whether you attended one of the record breaking ‘six night stand’ gigs, or the Heroes Or Ghosts anniversary show, or the one where the power went out (but the singing continued!); most people have a Coronas Christmas Olympia memory etched in their minds. This year the band are set to create another by bringing the concert direct to your very own living room via a live stream from the venue on the 12^th of December.

“Doing this from the Olympia was a deal breaker for us” explains singer Danny O’Reilly. “We’ve veered away from doing any streamed gigs so far this year, and if we didn’t get the go ahead to get back in to the Olympia, we wouldn’t be doing this. The venue is such a big part of the Coronas story; doing the stream from anywhere else wouldn’t have felt right, especially at Christmas”.

The band understand that it’s a tough time financially for many people out there, so have taken the decision to make the gig available for all to stream on a pay-what-you-like basis.  “Pay what you can afford, whatever the gig is worth to you.” says bass player Knoxy. “We won’t be making much, if any, money off this show, but we wanted to put on a full production, to get all our amazing crew back involved and put on the best show we can for this one off”.  “It will give us an excuse to see each other and our crew at Christmas as well.” says drummer Conor. “And do the only thing we’re any good at, play some music”.

If you want to see The Coronas live in your living room in The Olympia this December click here: https://guts.events/wxooyu/r1bmf8

‘Nowhere We’d Rather Stream – Live From The Olympia’ is produced by Ten Feet Tall, this project has been part-funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht Sport and Media from the Live Performance Support Scheme.

www.thecoronas.net

Releases new album Blackberry digitally via Erased Tapes

Acclaimed American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick released his new solo album Blackberry digitally on 28th August via Erased Tapes, the physical release is following on October 30. Blackberry is Peter’s first vocal album in five years, since 2015’s Colours of the Night. The entire album was recorded in Peter’s bedroom in London during the summer of 2019, hence Peter’s description of it as “Experimental-Bedroom-Folk-Pop”. All instrumentation is by Peter with additional vocals on the last track by his wife, singer Brigid Mae Power, and his stepson, Seán Power.

The subject matter of Blackberry is wide-ranging. He touches on family and on the connection we all need as social animals. He writes about technology and whether it will save or doom us. And of course, he writes about nature, about foraging, about the importance of engaging with the outside world in cities and in the country. Peter and his family recently returned to Co. Galway as they have a great love for the Irish countryside, having lived there before their move to London in 2019.

Peter explains the idea behind the album and its name, saying: “It is with all seriousness and great reverence that this album is named Blackberry. In a time when us humans are coming face to face with the impact of our actions on the environment at large, I strongly advocate for engaging with our local landscapes. When I first became obsessed with foraging edible wild plants a few years back, I wasn’t particularly excited about the humble blackberry, but I would soon return with great passion to this familiar fruit of my youth. Even in our most urban environments, the gnarled and resilient blackberry vines continue to weave themselves throughout, as if to keep reminding us where we come from.”

Peter Broderick is perhaps most well known as a live member of Efterklang, the Danish indie-rock group with whom he played from 2007-2013. In recent years he’s been kept busy working on the archives of Arthur Russell, being hired to perform audio restoration, editing and mixing for the latest posthumous release by the cult icon. Peter has also released over twenty solo recordings in the last thirteen years, as well as composed music for film and dance, most recently the multi-award winning animated film Two Balloons. Not wanting his creativity to be reined in by any one genre, Peter has explored gospel and soul, spoken word and beat boxing, through to folk and rock and classical. He thrives on constant experimentation and collaboration with like-minded creators. Early 2020 saw him performing in the band of Tim Burgess (Charlatans), whose latest chart topping solo album features Broderick on violin.

The first vocal line on Blackberry is “You can only be as happy as the world that you live in…” — a sentiment that all of us can relate to as we struggle with climate change, with a global pandemic and resulting lockdown, with an uncertainty about the future that the modern world generates in us all. But as musicians like Peter soundtrack these turbulent times, they provide us with a lifeline, a way of looking at the world that is hopeful and full of wonder.

Tracklist:

1. Stop And Listen
2. But
3. What Happened To Your Heart
4. The Niece
5. Ode To Blackberry
6. Let It Go
7. What’s Wrong With A Straight Up Love Song 8. Wild Food

Peter is on Twitter @BroPeterick www.peterbroderick.net www.erasedtapes.com

MALLRAT RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE ‘ROCKSTAR’

MALLRAT aka 22 year old, Brisbane-native Grace Shaw, returns today with new single ‘Rockstar‘. Premiered on triple j this morning, the track was written and recorded in her part-time home of Los Angeles, and is a collaboration with songwriter/producer Tommy English (Kacey Musgraves, Carly Rae Jepsen).

Inspiration can clearly be heard from ’90s dream folk icons Mazzy Star, the hazy indie rock that populated the legendary soundtrack to The OC, and Shaw’s teenage idols Violent Soho. Sludgy, lethargic guitars and muffled, low-fi drums underpin the steady softness of her vocals as she sings some of the most spectacular lyrics of her career — aspirational, boastful, humble and heartbreaking all at once:

Maybe I’ll fall in love with a rockstar,
We’ll be married forever,
I’ll forget all about ya, one day.
Maybe when I’ve won all the Grammys,
and I’ve got my own family,
I’ll forget all about ya, one day.
 

Of the release, she shares: “I feel like ‘Rockstar’ reminds me of a mix between Lana Del Rey, Kacey Musgraves and Violent Soho. All through my teens (and obviously still) I loved the early Violent Soho albums self-titled and Hungry Ghost – those two albums I’ve listened to a lot and I think that’s seeped its way into the track. A lot of the songs I’ve been writing lately have been me realising my power. 

I wrote the chorus first, it has a completely different attitude on its own, but when you listen in the context of the verses and the really aggressive guitar outro it completely flips the perspective of everything. When I wrote the rest of the song a year later, I was feeling a lot more sure of myself. It’s interesting how time can reframe things that you still think and are still true but just give them a whole new house to sit in. I’ve always thought of myself a whisper singer and not even a very good singer, but when I listen to the chorus of ‘Rockstar’ it reminds me that I have more range than I probably even give myself credit for.”

In the five or so years she’s been on the scene, Mallrat has established herself as one of the country’s best-known and most-loved singer-songwriters. Having emerged as a starry-eyed teen from Brisbane with hip-pop tracks like ‘Uninvited‘ and ‘For Real‘, her career transformed with singles ‘Better‘ and ‘Groceries‘, and with collaborations like ‘UFO‘ with Allday and ‘Nobody’s Home‘ with Basenji. An undeniable talent, her mammoth 2019 hit ‘Charlie‘, revealed an entirely new side to her songwriting. Delicate, relatable, human and imperfect, the track catapulted her to the top three of the triple j Hottest 100, and helped secure her first appearance on US television. 

Mallrat is currently deep in the process of writing and recording her debut album. Stay tuned for more, coming soon.

‘Rockstar‘ by Mallrat is out now: Stream/buy it HERE 

www.lilmallrat.com

Releases debut album ‘Making Sand’

Irish singer-songwriter Padraig Jack released his debut album Making Sand on 25 September. Making Sand was recorded in London and produced by music industry legend John Reynolds (Sinéad O’Connor, Damien Dempsey, Shane McGowan). The album includes the lead single ‘Minnie’ which was released to excellent reviews both in the UK and Ireland, as well as ‘Streetbed Ridden’, the single released back in March that tackled the issue of homelessness.

The album title is taken from the track ‘Making Sand’, which is in Padraig’s view the most meaningful song on the album, as it is inspired by Padraig’s home island of Inis Mór in the Aran Islands. The island’s landscape is rugged and scattered with bronze age stone ring-forts, ancient monasteries and churches founded by saints. ‘Making Sand’ attempts to capture a sense of the awesome historical and cultural importance of the islands while acknowledging that despite all the history and current societal activity, the inhabitants of the Island are ‘just making sand out here’ and only passing through.

Padraig Jack (O Flaithearta) was born into a musical family from the Aran islands. His dad is the songwriter Barry Ronan and he is the nephew of the Irish poet and Aosdána member Mary O’Malley. A native of Inis Mór which has produced writers Liam O Flaithearta, Máirtín Ó Direáin and Breandán Ó hEithir, Padraig is proudly bilingual both as a conversationalist and a songwriter.

Padraig Jack’s songwriting heros include James Taylor, Van Morrison, Shane McGowan, Sandy Denny, and Jimmy McCarthy. He seeks to develop his own songwriting style in the Irish language also and in this regard, takes inspiration from Enya, Kíla, John Spillane and Peadar Ó Riada.

Padraig’s lockdown was a lot more productive than most people could claim! He set up his own home music studio as well as negotiating a publishing deal with Beautiful World and Downtown Publishing whose roster includes Ryan Tedder, Joan Baez, Ray Davies and John Prine.

Padraig will be gigging in the coming months, both solo and as a guest with Damien Dempsey. For those who can’t travel to see him, Padraig will be celebrating the launch of his album with a special Christmas livestream from his website in December, stay tuned to www.padraigjack.com

       Track listing:

1. Let It Shine
2. Mathew
3. Streetbed Ridden
4. Making Sand
5. Minnie
6. Black Drapes
7. Hello Mum
8. Long Goodbye
9. Fighting Irish
10. Smaointe Cailte

See Padraig live:

30 Oct             Maritime, Bantry (with Damien Dempsey)

1 Nov               The Venue, Ratoath (with Damien Dempsey)

14 Nov             Judge Roy Beans, Newbridge (with Damien Dempsey)

20 Nov             Crescent Concert Hall, Drogheda (with Damien Dempsey)

27 Nov             Róisín Dubh, Galway (solo concert)

29 Nov             Workman’s Club, Dublin (solo concert)

13 Dec             Online Special Christmas livestream, tickets from www.padraigJack.com

 ‘Light Me Up’

Taken from their No 1 album

True Love Waits

The Coronas’ thirteen-year journey has definitely been unique. With a handful of multi-platinum selling albums and a huge home fan-base, they were just about to embark on a six-month world tour when a certain unfortunately-named virus tried to spoil the party. Thankfully, the band are back with a new single, new album, rescheduled dates, and a point to prove.

‘Light Me Up’ is the new single from the forthcoming album True Love Waits co-written with True Tides frontman Cian McSweeney. The song is a celebration of enduring love, through the good times and bad. It flips from atmospheric to anthemic and builds to a boisterous, gospel finish featuring Cian on backing vocals. Lead singer Danny explains, “‘Light Me Up’ is about being grateful to have someone in your life who believes in you when you’re struggling with self-doubt. I suppose post-lockdown it’s become even more topical – how lucky we are to have loved ones to lean on when the world seems to be turning upside down!”

‘Light Me Up’ precedes the band’s highly anticipated album True Love Waits which is out on 31st July. True Love Waits marks the start of what is now more than a new chapter in the career of one of Ireland’s biggest, best-loved bands, it’s more like a whole new book.

A quartet for thirteen years, last summer The Coronas became a trio when guitarist Dave McPhillips unexpectedly left. Briefly they questioned whether to continue but instead of being defeated, the band grew to see it as an opportunity. ‘When we accepted that we weren’t going to be the same band without him, it was easier to let the songs lead us in ways we wouldn’t have thought of before,’ Danny explains.

‘Rather than replace Dave, we actually contemplated ditching guitars entirely. But instead we opened ourselves up to working with loads of our talented friends, mainly because the songs warranted it, and we had an amazing young producer George Murphy who knew exactly the kind of album we wanted to make.’

‘For the first time we used real brass, there are extra guest backing vocalists, guest guitar players and our first featured duet. From early on, the guys encouraged me to use my voice differently, pushing me to try something that I wouldn’t have done previously.’

Two songs had already been recorded in Los Angeles last February, with Hozier and PJ Harvey producer Rob Kirwan, when Danny, bassist Graham Knox, and drummer Conor Egan pressed reset. But the album only really began to take shape once a raft of new songs arrived. Key to the process was Danny’s coterie of new co-writers.

‘I co-wrote a little on the last two albums and loved it,’ says Danny. ‘This time I was up for anything. I took snippets of ideas to several musician mates, mostly around Dublin and Kerry, to see what we came up with and that’s how we hit on some of the new sounds and different song structures. When you’re five albums in, it can be difficult to write differently on your own – you instinctively return to the same patterns. With fresh input, you’re forced down new paths, and it’s also great sharing that excitement in a room when you both know that there’s something special in the idea you’ve just created together.’

The title track ‘True Love Waits’ was also written with Cian MacSweeney, frontman of Cork-formed, Dublin-based trio True Tides, one of The Coronas’ favourite bands and their recent support act. Acoustic guitar and bright synths blend to create an atmosphere of dreamy optimism, while the lyrics – ‘fuck that, take a chance’ – could as easily apply to The Coronas’ new outlook as a new relationship. Much of the song is the band’s original demo, recorded DIY in Dublin, before being completed in London with producer George Murphy.

‘We’ve never kept so much of our demos before,’ says Danny, ‘but what’s great about George is he can see the magic in a moment. There’s a spontaneity to that song which we’d have lost by re-recording it. George engineered our last two albums, so he knows us very well. He’d hone in on the vibe of what we brought him. A lot of the songs had odd arrangements and he understood straight away what we were trying to do.’

The unorthodox arrangements helped push The Coronas out of their comfort zone. The release last year of hypnotic first single ‘Find The Water’ was a shock to some, but its success told the band they were on the right path. Beginning with just piano and vocals, then breaking into an intense chant, ‘Find The Water’ soars skywards on trumpets and percussion and has Danny singing so high by the end that he’s all but unrecognisable.

Previous single ‘Cold’ may rival it for surprises. Opening on its stark, prayer-like chorus, it’s a majestic spine-chiller that shapeshifts on piano, percussion and synths. Written by Danny as a pick-me-up late one night alone in Dingle, it’s about decision-making and self-doubt. ‘How do you know you’ve made the right choice, about anything,’ says Danny. ‘In the midst of so much change, you can question every decision, but what’s the point? It’s our ‘don’t get down’ song. Have confidence and move on.’

Lyrically, True Love Waits addresses everything from a new love in Danny’s life, to looking back at past achievements with pride, to dealing with Dave’s departure.

‘Haunted’, one of two songs written with producer Cormac Butler, is a toast to a partnership – with the phrase “haunted” being Dingle-speak for “lucky”. ‘Lost in The Thick of It’ is one of the album’s highlights, a gorgeous duet with Gabrielle Aplin, written in Brighton with Gabrielle and her partner Alfie Hudson-Taylor. On the celebratory ‘Brave’, The Coronas work in a waltz. The euphoric ‘Heat of The Moment’ they describe as their Richard Curtis love song. By the end of ‘I Think We Jinxed It’, the guitars and synths soar just much as Danny’s vocals.

‘We never thought we’d make six albums, or be as excited about music as we are now. It’s great that we’re not trying to compete with anyone else. We’d rather just outdo ourselves.’

thecoronas.netFor further information contact Emma Harney / 0872807019 / emma@orchestrate.ie /www.orchestrate.ie

Release duet with Gabrielle Aplin ‘Lost In The Thick Of It’

In the midst of a pandemic we all need something to look forward to, so The Coronas’ fans can rejoice as the band are set to release a new single, ‘Lost in The Thick of It’, on Friday 15^th May. ‘Lost in The Thick of It’ is a collaboration, written and performed by The Coronas and acclaimed English singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin, and it features a melancholic piano hook, with Aplin and O’Reilly’s vocals complementing each other beautifully.

Gabrielle reached a mainstream audience with her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘The Power of Love’ used as the soundtrack to the John Lewis Christmas advertisement. Since then she has released three studio albums, most recently Dear Happy in January 2020.

Singer Danny gives us the story of how the song came to be: ‘Gabrielle and her partner, Alfie (Hudson-Taylor) invited me to their home in Brighton last year for a weekend of hanging out. We said we might try to write a little but it was more like a mini-holiday in my mind. We wrote a song together on which Gabrielle sang lead vocals that became ‘Lost in The Thick of It’ and I loved the demo so much I suggested adding my vocal in a lower octave and making it a duet.’

A few months later the duet was recorded in the historic Eastcote Studios in London. It will be the fourth single released from The Coronas’ new album True Love Waits set for release on 31^st July, their sixth studio album and the follow-up to 2017’s No.1 hit ‘Trust The Wire’.

And yes, the band have addressed the elephant in the room: the unfortunate fact of sharing a name with a global scourge. ‘The first thing we did was tweet Corona the beer, asking them what their plan was,’ states Danny. ‘When we chat to our mates in bands who have postponed gigs and tours, I just remind them it could be worse, you could share a name with the virus!’

Pre-order ‘True Love Waits’ https://thecoronas.lnk.to/TrueLoveWaits