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NewDad

Altar

NewDad, fronted by enigmatic songwriter and vocalist Julie Dawson, are an alternative three piece from Galway, Ireland. Their influences vary from legendary bands like The Cure, Pixies, R.E.M., and My Bloody Valentine, to more contemporary acts, such as Big Thief and Beabadoobee.

NewDad make music that confronts the horrors of the modern world. Julie’s lyrics find beauty in her pain, with a unique perspective on her generational despair that resonates broadly. With writing that regularly evokes imagery of water and religion, she reflects on the band’s upbringing on the West Coast of Ireland through her songwriting.

‘Altar’ is the second album from “Ireland’s next great guitar band”, and the third album from their prolific frontwoman Julie Dawson in less than 2 years. It’s a grungey alt-rock future classic that jolts between anger-fueled anthemics on the one hand, and darkly intimate and melancholic introspection on the other. They’ve built a dedicated cult following with their acclaimed debut ‘Madra’ and if they’re good enough for the godfather of goth they’re good enough for you…“I liked the NewDad album, that’s been on in my car for a long time” (Robert Smith)

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A soaring, assured return for one of the greatest forces in indie music of the past few decades. Thoughtful, emotionally charged pieces that while sonically cohesive, effortlessly pull in influences from fringe indie and avant rock to great effect. A new step forwards for an already superb outift.

TRACK LISTING

1. Other Side
2. Heavyweight
3. Pretty
4. Roobosh
5. Misery
6. Sinking Kind Of Feeling
7. Puzzle
8. Entertainer
9. Everything I Wanted
10. Mr Cold Embrace
11. Vertigo
12. Something’s Broken

Debut album from Irish alt/rock collective NewDad. Awash with spiralling guitars and a hypnotic bassline, singer/guitarist Julie Dawson finds inspiration in TV show Euphoria, as she ruminates on the destructive relationship of characters, Rue and Jules: a storyline that she herself gravitated towards.

MADRA (meaning “dog” in Irish) is an 11-song, guitar-stacked visceral outing, as singer/guitarist Julie Dawson embarks on a journey of self-exploration, self-sabotage, and reflection. Soaked in dysfunction, Madra searches for solace in pain, tackling themes of bullying (‘Where I Go’), self-medication/depression (‘Madra’, ‘Let Go’), destruction (‘Change My Mind’, ‘White Ribbons’), co-dependency (‘Nosebleed’) and resistance (‘Nightmares’). The album artwork, photographed by Irish creative, Joshua Gordon, shows a broken doll that serves as a metaphor for the album’s themes of fragility and vulnerability.

The album finds NewDad reconnect with their musical roots, digging deep into the shoegaze/rock sonics that soundtracked their formative years (the band cite Pixies, The Cure and Slowdive as some of their biggest early influences), together with glimmers of indie/pop that harks back to their earlier material: ‘Waves EP’ (2021) and ‘Banshee EP’ (2022). Written in their home city of Galway, Ireland, before the band moved to London this year, and recorded at the legendry Rockfield Studios (Black Sabbath, Queen), the album has been produced by NewDad’s long-time collaborator Chris Ryan (Just Mustard) and mixed by Alan Moulder (The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Wet Leg). Bound together by Julie’s ghostly vocal - a vessel for her weighty, introspective songwriting – MADRA firmly marks NewDad as one of Ireland’s most promising debut guitar bands.


STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A dark, melodic walk through 90's grunge, 70's folk and minimal synth from NewDad here, with Moulder's production perfectly highlighting the soaring choruses and swimming walls of noise. A perfect unity of melody and drive, but liberally smeared with gothic ambience and moody meditation.

TRACK LISTING

1. Angel
2. Sickly Sweet
3. Where I Go
4. Change My Mind
5. In My Head
6. Nosebleed
7. Let Go
8. Dream Of Me
9. Nightmares
10. White Ribbons
11. MADRA

Newdad

Banshee

The band describe the EP:

“This EP is definitely bigger, having more time in the studio definitely meant we got to experiment more and layer more into each track so there’s an overall bigger sound! The main themes of this EP are restlessness and anxiety, during lockdown that’s how myself and most people were feeling so that’s what inspired a lot of the writing.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Galway band NewDad follow up last years wonderful Waves EP with 5 more slices of reverby dream pop, Drawing on similar classic reference points as their debut: Breeders, Pixies, Belly etc. but less ethereal and more dynamic this time around.

TRACK LISTING

1. Say It
2. Banshee
3. Spring
4. Disappear
5. Thinking Too Much
6. Ladybird


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