• Watch: Villagers – Fool

    August 20, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of the release of his fourth album, The Art of Pretending How To Swim, Conor O’Brien’s Villagers have unveiled the video for new single ‘Fool’. A self-proclaimed “romantic battle-cry from the centre of a technological dystopia”, the video – which was directed by Bob Gallagher, the whiz behind the video for Villagers’ previous single ‘A Trick of the Light’ – takes the lyrics (“So here is my bleeding heart. Will you take the pain away?”) as a starting point for the narrative. “The video is a surreal take on a marriage proposal, which is the ultimate gambit in love,” says Gallagher. The scenario pushes how…

  • The Top 10 Sets At All Together Now 2018

    August 7, 2018 - By 

    Starting for it’s first year ever All Together Now has brought together the best in Irish and international talent to a picturesque Waterford setting. For its first year, All Together Now is mostly superbly organised; it has one of the most stacked line-ups of the summer, excellent communication between the festival and its goers and a generally beautiful design. The organisers should be incredibly proud for establishing a new festival that should last for many years to come. Here’s the top 10 sets that we caught at this year’s inaugural outing. Words by Kelly Doherty. Photos by Patrizio Mancuso. Mura Masa…

  • Watch: Villagers – A Trick of the Light

    June 12, 2018 - By 

    Coinciding with the announcement of his forthcoming fourth album, The Art of Pretending To Swim, Conor O’Brien’s Villagers are back with a new single, ‘A Trick of the Light’. Blurring the lines between full-bodied folk-pop splendour and late-1990s R&B groove, it’s a four-minute curveball that hits in all the right places. Sealing the deal for the single is a typically first-rate video from Bob “Midas Touch” Gallagher. Featuring O’Brien in the guise of a rather lovely lady, it’s a wonderfully surrealist accompaniment capturing the pleasures and heart-pangs of love, belonging and loss. The Art of Pretending to Swim is out via Domino…

  • Track Record: Conor O’Brien (Villagers)

    August 29, 2016 - By 

    As featured in the current issue of our physical magazine, Villagers’ Conor O’Brien handpicks a selection of records that have left an indelible imprint on his music and life, including Nina Simone, Bill Callahan, Fela Kuti, Julee Cruise and Mos Def. Photo by Loreana Rushe. Bill Wells Trio – Also In White I don’t really know anything about Bill Wells except that he’s a Scottish musician with fantastic eyebrows and I didn’t even know that when I starting listening to this album, which made it all the more magical. All I can say it that it leaves a proper mark on your soul…

  • Choice Music Prize 2016 @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    March 4, 2016 - By 

    The Choice Music Prize celebrates the diversity and talent present in the Irish music scene. Tonight’s show in particular shows the vast range of bands and artists, both up-and-coming and those who have already well and truly made their mark. Whilst there may only be two awards up for grabs – Song of the Year and Album of the Year – the 12 bands that perform illustrate the real reason why we’re all here. Before announcing the winner of the former prize, there are performances and interviews for Today FM. Although the interviews fall slightly flat at times (simply because the crowd talk…

  • Irish Tour: Villagers w/ Somerville

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    With support from Somerville, Villagers enthralled Dublin’s Vicar Street and Galway’s Black Box Theatre on Thursday and Friday night. Words by Eoin Murray. Photos by Mark Earley and Vincent Hughes. Vicar Street, Dublin Photos by Mark Earley Black Box Theatre, Galway Photos by Vincent Hughes On a freezing Friday night in January when the pelting rain hurts your face there are few things that will warm your body and toast your soul more than hearing a collection of masterfully constructed folk songs that manage to maintain an emotional, poetic rawness despite the very professional polish.  Tonight’s sold out show by in Galway’s…

  • Stream: Villagers – Wichita Lineman

    January 4, 2016 - By 

    Taken from Where Have You Been All My Life? (a collection of re-imaginings set for release on Friday) Villagers are streaming their sublime cover of Glen Campbell’s stone-cold classic ‘Wichita Lineman’. Meeting and exceeding all expectations, it’s an expectedly heartfelt, full-band affair that pays tribute to the original in extraordinary fashion. Distilling five years and three albums of Villagers’ songwriting into “one flowing narrative” Where Have You Been All My Life was recorded in one day at London’s RAK Studio with Richard Woodcraft and Villagers live engineer Ber Quinn.

  • Out To Lunch Festival Reveal First Acts

    October 19, 2015 - By 

    An all but medicinal annual distraction from the January blues, Belfast’s Out To Lunch have revealed the first wave of acts to grace their eleventh outing at the start of next year. Including Conor O’Brien’s Villagers at the Mac, a book reading from Isy Suttie at the Black Box, an adaptation of Steinbeck classic Of Mice and Men, comedy from Sarah Kendall and shows from the likes of Beardyman, East India Youth, Jim ‘The King’ Brown and Aoife O’Donovan, this year’s bill is already shaping up very nicely indeed. Check out the full Early Bird line-up and secure tickets here.