Dublin’s Stephen Tiernan AKA Participant has been riding a well-deserved wave of momentum recently, cropping up on end of year and “ones to watch” lists left, right and centre. Capitalising on that drive, new single ‘Your Better’ is a real statement of intent, conjuring the hushed intimacy of Sparklehorse with a sparse delicacy all his own. Taken from his second EP, Content, the single is masterfully propelled by Bob Gallagher’s video, an accompaniment that highlights its darker undertones with a powerful narrative metaphor.
Tiernan said,”‘Your Better’ was one of those songs that seemed complete from the moment I uttered the first lyric over the first chord,” he said. “It’s a strange thing to feel something inherently unhappy and bitter pour forth and then be really pleased that you’ve captured it and put it to use. It’s a song that deals with ideas of family, love, rejection and it’s consequences, framed as a failing romance. Yet, if you look past the sadness, it has an undercurrent of selfishness too, which I can’t shy away from.”
