Debut album awakens Galway’s sleeping giants

When Bannered Mare came into existence in 2018, it was essentially a solo project for frontman Joseph Padfield. A first EP, Gizzards, arrived that year and constituted a soft introduction for a band that has since grown noisy and spiky in all the right ways.

Very much a five-piece these days, the Galway outfit’s blend of post-rock, math-rock and emo was immortalised earlier this month through the release of a debut album that was a long time in the making.

He’s Only Sleeping is out on streaming platforms now – and an album launch is scheduled for The Loft in Seven Bridgestreet, Galway, as part of A Modern Movement.

“I’m glad it’s finally out,” Padfield says of the record. “Because we released independently, these things take a long time. It’s getting a nice reception and that’s all we can ask for really. The job is done and we’re happy with the result.

“It’s absolutely a culmination. The sound – I feel like it’s finally where it was meant to be. You can try and say the same thing over and over and never get it right. It feels like I’ve worded this sentence correctly, finally.”

The oldest section of He’s Only Sleeping is the chorus of track four, Tetra – which cries, ‘I’m yours, play God if you want’. Musically, the songs are all new, but that line dates back to Padfield’s days in alternative rock band Race the Flux.

“I wrote that lyric a long, long time ago and I’ve always really liked it. The song is about addiction to various things. Not even necessarily bad stuff, but just having vices and that lyric fit the bill perfectly.”

While a lot of Bannered Mare’s work is intense and abrasive, the album’s closing track Primordial shows how dynamic their sound can be. Hymnal and sparse at times, it gives a sense of their range.

Pictured: Bannered Mare...Galway band releases debut album.