Conor O’Brien returns with a seasonal lullaby.
“With all of the music that I’ve made, even if I feel proud of it or not proud of it, and if I feel awkward about it listening back, it all came from a genuine place, a soulful place.
“Regardless of whether or not I succeeded, for me they are documents of where I was at the time.”
Conor O’Brien there, in conversation with JOE over a glass of whiskey last year as latest album The Art of Pretending to Swim made its bow.
Under the guise of Villagers, O’Brien has always gone to those genuine, soulful places.
His newest effort – the aptly-titled ‘Summer’s Song’ definitely works as a document of the time, too.
It helps that it’s a typically rich track, one that afforded O’Brien to indulge with a chorus of six flugelhorns – apparently the magic number of flugelhorns – and the production work of Dave Fridmann, who has previously conjured up wonders with the likes of Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips and MGMT.
“It’s the closest I’ll ever get to writing a pure pop song,” says O’Brien.
“I just had to roll with it and I’m glad I did; it was really just an excuse to make the horns sound like sunbeams.
“Boy it’s fun to play live. I can’t quite believe we managed to get the magical touch of Dave Fridmann in on the mix.”
One to watch out for if you’re hitting up Villagers’ sold out Iveagh Gardens show in Dublin this Friday. If not, you can just hit play below and enjoy…
Clip via VillagersTV
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