Originally formed in Limerick and currently based in Dublin, the rising Irish quintet THEATRE — Maeve O’Shea (vocals), Oscar Halpin (guitar), Dara Gooney (guitar), Gerry Sheil (bass) and Sean Storan (drums) — have received rapturous praise internationally from Stereogum, NME, The Line of Best Fit, Dork, Clash Magazine and Wonderland, as well as airplay;ay from BBC 1 Radio‘s Sian Eleri and Alyx Holcombe, BBC Radio 2‘s Jo Whiley, BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens, Deb Grant and Nathan Shepherd, Apple Music‘s Matt Wilkinson, Radio X‘s John Kennedy, as well as others.
The rising Irish outfit’s debut EP Incarnate was released yesterday through BMG/Echo. And as the band’s Maeve O’Shea explains, “Incarnate as a body of work feels like the physical embodiment of what our band has been for us over the past few years. These are some of the first songs that we wrote together, but they have gone through an evolution of their own after touring them for so long. They follow a theme of a changing-like person, someone who has two sides to them, but as a whole this EP is a presentation of our work finally in the flesh, real and ready. We’ve waited a long time to bring them out to the world in their truest form.” Much of the EP’s material is an ode to Limerick and its people, and how it shaped the band through often very dark, uneasy times.
The EP’s latest single “Gaudete” is a shimmering bit of 80s inspired post punk that subtly references Irish folk and brings early U2, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the like to mind while showcasing O’Shea’s breathtakingly gorgeous, yearning vocal and the band’s knack for rousingly anthemic and cathartic hooks and choruses.
“‘Gaudete’ was written in the early days of the band,” O’Shea says. “At the time I was listening to a lot of English and Irish folk music, and Steeleye Span was one of the most prominent inspirations. In their album Below the Salt they recorded a rendition of ‘Gaudete,’ a 16th century Christmas hymn – I heard the melody entangled in a guitar melody that Dara brought to a rehearsal and was determined that the two could be married together. The result was an original song that references the choral aspects of the ancient ‘Gaudete’ and plays with a dark lyrical theme to contrast the Latin meaning behind the word, rejoice or be joyful.”
Directed by Flo Webb, the accompanying video for “Gaudete” is a decidedly early 80s MTV-inspired yet cinematically shot visual that also showcases the breathtaking beauty of Ireland.
The video comes on the heels of the band’s recent appearance at The Great Escape Festival. And building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band also announced their first UK headlining tour, which will take place in the autumn, alongside a run of the regional festival circuit.
Live Dates
14 JUN – Beyond The Pale Festival, Drummin (IE)
26 JUN – Thomond Park, Limerick w/ Lewis Capaldi (IE)
25 JUL – Deer Shed Festival, Topcliffe (UK)
26 JUL – Truck Festival, Oxfordshire (UK)
8 AUG – Absolutely Free Festival, Genk (BE)
29 AUG – Rock N Roll Circus, Sheffield w/ Wunderhorse (UK)
5 OCT – The Castle, Manchester (UK)
6 OCT – The Lexington, London (UK)
7 OCT – The Louisiana / The Croft, Bristol (UK)
9 OCT – Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield (UK)
12 OCT – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham (UK)
13 OCT – Voodoo Daddys, Norwich (UK)
14 OCT – Heartbreakers, Southampton (UK)
15-17 OCT – Sŵn Festival, Cardiff (UK)
17 DEC – The Academy, Dublin w/ Blondshell (IE)
*supporting Bleech 9:3
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