Galway singer/songwriter digs deep for new album inspiration
Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell
Eoin Dolan has long been one of Galway’s most prolific and experimental singer-songwriters. Dancing between psych pop, alt-folk and a myriad of other slightly off-centre styles and genres, he has released three full-length LPs to date – each rich in melody and instrumental texture. And his latest project connects that experimental style of writing with a long-held passion for history.
Mirror Liver was released on October 29 and, across its twelve mesmerising tracks, it tells stories of people who lived through the evolutionary times of Neolithic/Bronze Age Europe – connecting them to the present day with a particular focus on the human condition. The album includes several tracks as Gaeilge that were somewhat informed by the Welsh language music that Eoin has found himself consuming.
“I found it quite interesting that there was this revival around Irish folk music and that people, in some cases, have a very definite idea of what a traditional Irish sound should be,” he explains.
“I think it’s quite interesting because even though I’m an admirer of it, a lot of it can be quite rigid. I got into a lot of Welsh language music like Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Super Furry Animals and seeing their sound, even in that language and with that identity, it was so experimental and very different.
“There are a lot of Irish acts taking those themes and being very experimental with it, but I wanted to explore that a bit for myself. There are a few tracks on the album as Gaeilge and I’ve been trying to improve my Irish the last couple of years because, particularly in Galway, we’re so lucky that we have such a big Irish-speaking community.”
History is very much at the heart of this album but so too is the way in which we consider events from the past. Eoin is as interested in the mundanity of the regular days that have come and gone as he is the major events that shape historical textbooks. The fluidity and evolution of history is particularly influential on Mirror Liver. As is the case with art and culture, our understanding of the past is constantly changing.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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