Niall Breslin (also known to many as “Bressie”) is a multi-faceted Irish artist, author, academic and mental health campaigner whose work transcends traditional creative boundaries. Today, he releases his new album The Place That Has Never Been Wounded – a spacious, introspective and emotionally resonant work that marks a new direction, outvia the Icelandic label INNI.
Part musical breakthrough, part philosophical treatise, and part autobiography, The Place That Has Never Been Wounded spotlights Breslin’s inherent musicality and his continued sharing of his personal journey. “There’s an awful lot about my life that I can’t really express,” he explains. “Things that I find really difficult to understand, or to put into words. And those are the things I put into music.”
Breslin has a lot of experience to work from. His storied career has included everything from playing professional rugby, until a career-ending injury, to releasing hit records, both solo, and with his former band The Blizzards. He’s written an award-winning memoir entitled Me, and my Mate Jeffrey, and started the ‘A Lust for Life’ charity, which provides early prevention mental health programmes in half of Ireland’s primary schools. Currently studying a PhD in Trinity College Dublin, Niall is focusing on the intersection of music and mindfulness. Somewhere along the way, making sense of life became a public process, and in that sense, the new album is the sound of many disparate pieces sliding into place.
Recorded at Camden Recording Studios in Dublin over five days with the help of friend and producer Eliot James (Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, Petr Aleksander). They double-tracked each piece on a Steinway grand piano and a felted upright piano, resulting in a sound that’s both intimate and rich, a peaceful space for a certain kind of quietude.
“I’ve learned in my own life that you can’t avoid the things that make you uncomfortable,” says Breslin. “This record is meant to help people sit with that – the good, the bad, and the ugly of life. A soundtrack that lets you sit with it all.”
The album will be accompanied by a book of the same name, due for publication by John Murray One in print, ebook and audio editions in January 2026. Each track is named after one chapter, and each of the four acts – The Polaris Principles, Duchas, Metta, and The Place That Has Never Been Wounded – is titled after one of its core concepts inspired by the work of Meister Eckhart. An extended version of the album is planned, to include spoken word reflections intended for use in guided meditation.
“A line I use in the spoken word is we’ve become so busy chasing a life that we’ve ultimately missed living it,” Breslin says. “And that’s what this album’s about – living what’s in front of you. Even if what’s in front of you isn’t particularly nice – live it. That’s the goal of this record, really.”
The album is available on digital, CD, and vinyl, on Bandcamp:
https://innimusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-place-that-has-never-been-wounded
LIVE SHOWS
Oct 24 Zhivago In store, Galway
Oct 24 Druid Theatre, Galway (Early Show)
Oct 24 Druid Theatre, Galway (Evening Show)
Oct 25 Pot Duggans, Ennistymon (Early Show)
Oct 25 St George’s Arts and Heritage Centre, Mitchelstown (Evening Show)
Oct 26 Bell Lane coffee/2210 Collab Show, Mullingar – 1.00pm
Oct 26 Multyfarnham Friary, Mullingar
Oct 27 In-Store Pop-Up, Steamboat, Limerick (Early Show)
Oct 27 John’s Church, John’s Square, Limerick (Evening Show)
Oct 28 Spindizzy instore, Dublin – 4.30pm
Oct 28 The Whale Theatre, Greystones
Oct 29 Rollercoaster Records, Kilkenny – 5.00pm
Oct 29 Set Theatre, Kilkenny
Oct 30 Vinyl Room, Mullingar – 2.00pm
Oct 30 The Chambers Bar, Mullingar
Nov 7 Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin
Tickets on sale now from https://www.niallbreslin.com/