Beloved Irish indie artist Maria Kelly returns with ‘Drive’, her first single since releasing her debut album The Sum of the In-Between in 2021. Out today via Veta Records, ‘Drive’ is about longing for closure, and grappling with the reality that it may never come. It’s a rose-tinted story of ‘what-ifs’, fuelled by the desire for forgiveness, and the need for permission to finally move on.
Maria says of the track: “I wrote ‘Drive’ as a sort of comforting daydream as I looked back on my past relationships. I’ve always struggled with the fact that people who once meant so much to you can suddenly become a stranger again. I know that growing apart is natural, but I’ve never been able to move through that loss with ease – especially when so much is left unsaid at the end of it. ‘Drive’ is a yearning to go find them now, explain, and have them ease the guilt – and an attempt at accepting that it won’t ever happen.”
To celebrate the release of ‘Drive’, Maria is hosting a ‘Night of New Things’ at Bello Bar in Dublin on Thursday, 6 June. Tickets are €15 + fees and can be purchased here. Maria will also play the Ruby Sessions on 28th May, a secret Belfast location on 22nd June, and with Ezra Williams at the Róisín Dubh on 17th July.
Produced by her creative-collaborator Matt Harris (Veta, HAVVK), and mixed/mastered by Rocky O’Reilly (Start Together, Oppenheimer), ‘Drive’ has already gained international attention; the single is featured in the trailer for the film Ezra, starring Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robert De Niro.
Connect with Maria Kelly: Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify
Single art by – Ciarán MacChoncarraige