Darragh takes it handy but comes back with a bang!

With the release of 2021’s Tilly and the Postmadster, Tuam singer/songwriter Darragh O’Dea established himself as one of Galway folk music’s brightest voices.  Named in honour of his grandparents, the record was a nuanced ode to family.

Among its finely crafted stories was a fallout around a land dispute, and the tragedy of a pandemic funeral.

In the nearly five years since, O’Dea has performed extensively, oftentimes alongside Tuam kingpins The Saw Doctors, but taken time away from releasing. In that sense, Take Her Handy, his new single which arrived at the beginning of February, is a reintroduction to his work.

“I suppose it felt a little bit different to previous releases,” O’Dea says. “The groove and the vibe of it feels different, and the sax as well. The fact that it’s a longer, jammy kind of a song is a nice reintroduction that can lead on to further singles. It’s a song I’m very, very proud of.”

The saxophone he mentions is played by Anto Thistlethwaite, long-time Saw Doc and founding member of The Waterboys.

O’Dea gave Thistlethwaite a hand getting his head around the third-party distribution system that artists use to get their music on streaming sites. In return, Thistlethwaite offered up his services on the sax if and when they were needed.

O’Dea says it was a pleasure to have Thistlethwaite on the track, and it’s clear he means it – Thistlethwaite is allotted a two-minute outro for his sprawling, velvet solo. The swing of that section, and of the song’s general groove, juxtaposes the solemnity of a deeply personal story.

‘You trusted me to cut your hair/Children lost, cancer scares/You had seen it all/While I was learning to write or to kick a ball,’ O’Dea croons in the second verse.

“It’s very personal,” he says. “This album is definitely more introspective and more personal. The previous album was looking outwards at other people’s stories. There’s more of me in this song and in all the songs on the album.

“It’s very liberating, actually. It feels really good to write that way and be as honest as possible. There’s nothing really about it that feels awkward or anything. It feels cathartic.”

Pictured:  Darragh O’Dea...back with a new single.