Ro Yourell today shares a new video for his song ‘Mary’, taken from his debut solo album Commencer, which was released in May. The Delorentos guitarist and frontman plays Whelan’s on Saturday 24th August (tickets available from singularartists.ie).
Starring Kate Moylan & John Spillane (not that one!), the extended video for ‘Mary’ sees Director Shane Langan play with the concept of celebrity worship, with the band turning up for a sold out gig, only to discover that a ‘super fan’ has bought up all the tickets, essentially turning it into a private show.
A self-deprecating nod to the reality of ‘beginning again’ as a solo musician after years of being part of an internationally successful band, Ro praises Langan for his humorous approach to the subject in the video direction and discusses his own experience: “With Delorentos I’ve played to crowds big and small, but starting again solo with Commencer there is the very real possibility of performing to one man and his dog, so I think Shane was secretly steeling me for this. Not that I’d mind, but there’s quite a bit of falsetto on the record that dogs may find triggering.”
‘Mary’ is the first in a series of three songs recorded live at the beautiful new Lark Concert Hall in Balbriggan. The lyrics were inspired by the concept of worship in society.
“When I was writing ‘Mary’,” Ro says, “I was thinking about religion and how in the case of Irish Catholicism, people were conditioned to accept poverty and injustice, in the belief that they would be rewarded in another life. You could argue that celebrity has superseded religion. We worship movie stars, singers, athletes, products even. People doing things well provide so much joy and inspiration – just look at the Olympics – but sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our crushes that we lose sight of ourselves.”
‘Mary’ is taken from Ro Yourell’s debut solo album, Commencer, which is out now (listen here). Yourell plays a full band headline show at Whelan’s (Up), Dublin on Saturday, 24th August. Tickets are €22 + booking fee on sale now from singularartists.ie.
Photo credit – Ruth Medjber