Birthday Problem – the boundary-pushing collaboration between producers Matt Harris (HAVVK, Maria Kelly, DYVR) and Rocky O’Reilly (ASIWYFA, Oppenheimer, Malibu Shark Attack), return with their latest single ‘Lines (ft. Party Fears)’

Birthday Problem, the boundary-pushing collaboration between producers Matt Harris (HAVVK, Maria Kelly, DYVR) and Rocky O’Reilly (ASIWYFA, Oppenheimer, Malibu Shark Attack), return with their latest single, ‘Lines (ft. Party Fears)’, out 30th January.

Featuring Party Fears (A.K.A. Maggie Devlin), ‘Lines’ tells the story of two people forced to leave their homes due to circumstances beyond their control. The track also serves as a creative collaboration with Leila Boukarim & Asaf Luzon, the authors behind A Million Kites, a poignant collection of poetry and testimonies from children in Gaza. 

Leila Boukarim says: “The track’s themes of loss and perseverance immediately recalled the messages of many of the tender, beautiful voices included in A Million Kites. Part of helping the children of Gaza is building meaningful coalitions across all kinds of art forms and communities, and raising these most important and overlooked perspectives in times of such tremendous pain.”

Matt Harris of Birthday Problem says:
“Maggie [Devlin] was a huge part of the music community in Berlin when I was there, and Party Fears was one of the first new bands I saw in the city. I’d always admired her way with lyrics, and during lockdown, she started sharing poetry readings that really resonated. Her voice felt like the perfect fit for this track. When we heard her first demo, we were overwhelmed, and seeing it come together in the studio was incredibly rewarding.”

Maggie Devlin (Party Fears) adds:
“I first listened to the scratch track at the start of the pandemic when Berlin was in lockdown. I stepped into my garden, looked up, and saw a single jet passing overhead. The story of the song became clear to me then. Many of us were encountering a collective powerlessness we had never really experienced before—a privilege in itself that it felt so ‘new.’ The jet felt like a symbol that life goes on, or maybe a kind of freedom. I was also reading a lot of Irish poetry at the time, particularly Under the Hawthorn Tree, and thinking about how displacement, loss, and agency play out across generations.”

Previous Birthday Problem singles have featured Molly O’Mahony, Ailbhe Reddy, Runah, HAVVK, Nerves, The Wood Burning Savages, and more, gaining attention from Nialler9, Hot Press, Get In Her Ears, District Magazine, The Last Mixed Tape, Golden Plec, and others.

‘Lines (ft. Party Fears)’ is available on all major streaming platforms now.