Just ahead of the anticipated upcoming EP To Cast the Sea in Concrete (5th November), Cork risers Pebbledash share the haunting indie-folk sweller ‘O, The Wind’. The band head on a headline UK and IE tour through November 25.
Following the bands sync on the new Netflix series House Of Guiness, ‘O, The Wind’ showcases the blend of traditional Irish folk, shoegaze and post-punk that has seen Pebbledash so widely acclaimed. Led by the haunting vocals of Asha Egan McCutcheon, the track unfolds into an ethereal, dark and emotionally affecting soundscape, intertwining biting, fingerpicked electric guitar with atmospheric swells of strings and synth, warm bass lines, and driving, shuffling drums. The result drifts effortlessly between genres, enveloped in a beautiful haze of reverberated echoes and subtle field recordings.
Speaking about the track, Cormac Donovan O’Neill explains – “I think we all felt that this song represented a major departure for Pebbledash in terms of the barriers of genre we were willing to cross.
The track’s opening section foregrounds the emotional tumult of Asha’s lyrics exploring isolation in an urban landscape and the surrealism evoked by this floating through time, delivered in the ornamented manner of a traditional sean nós tune accompanied only by soft wheeze of air passing through a harmonium’s body and Fionnbharr’s spare guitar figure. But from there, we wanted the bass and drums to carry Asha’s stark lyricism atop an off-kilter groove more akin to the likes of DJ Shadow or Portishead, propelling the listener in unforeseen directions before the song returns home in its final moments, the vocal standing alone amidst a landscape of Terry Riley-esque arpeggios and eerie sampled vocals.
We were incredibly excited to share this song as a statement of our development, attesting to the outer reaches of our sound we sought to explore in recording this EP.”
Pebbledash have built a growing reputation as both a live band and on record. Building a whole host of acclaim, including support across BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X (X-Posure Hot One), RTE (online, 2FM), Clash, Dork, Hot Press, Nialler9, Psychedelic Baby Magazine, Hard Of Hearing, Far Out, District Magazine and Golden Plec among others, the band have also become a firm favourite of So Young, appearing among the magazine’s tracks of the year and playing live So Young nights. The band has also gained significant Spotify Editorial playlist support, appearing on New Music Friday UK, melomainia, Fresh Folk, and Fresh Finds to name a few.
Upcoming tour dates:
23rd October – 25th October
Left Of The Dial, Rotterdam
28th October
They’re Gonna Be Big, Paris
28th-30th November
Other Voices Dingle, Kerry
PEBBLEDASH HEADLINE TOUR:
6th November
Cyprus Avenue, Cork
7th November
Curveball, Dublin
8th November
Voodoo, Belfast
12th November
Servant’s Jazz Quarters, London
15th November
Castle Hotel, Manchester
16th November
The Attic, Leeds
Photo credit – Emily Cardona