NewDad – Altar review

We live in a time where the simple words “go home” have assumed a weirdly disproportionate and sinister meaning, but there’s still a quality to them for certain situations which can feel nostalgic. NewDad – schoolfriends Julie Dawson, Sean O’Dowd and Fiachra Parslow – formed in Galway, a hometown out of which they built an early reputation for a unique brand of melancholic post punk.

In a move that was holds somehow far more symbolism for those from Ireland than many other countries, the trio then relocated to London, released their critically acclaimed debut album Madra (Dawson also released a solo album) and began to calibrate a follow up in a city which has always hosted it’s share of Ireland’s diaspora.

Dawson has taken it for a muse and if Madra was a collection of material pieced togther over the band’s formative years, Altar‘s soul and essence belong to their adopted home. Nods to the past are there on the likes of the muscular Roobosh, whilst the singer addresses the pressures of expectation on Heavyweight and Everything I Wanted. If there’s a sense that the intensity has been turned down a notch on Mr Cold Embrace or Something’s Broken, the rattling opener Other Side is a reminder of NewDad’s latent power across any water.

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