Words: Paul Laird
I Don’t Recognise You…I Know You.
NewDad
“The gods have been good to you. But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you, or have to content yourself with those mean triumphs that the memory of your past will make more bitter than defeats. Every month as it wanes bring you nearer to something dreadful. Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses.”
(Oscar Wilde)
There was a time, of course, when I felt that the gods had been good to me but now I have to live with the fact that that which they gave they have taken away. I lived perfectly and fully but only for a summer. Now my life, like so many others, is one of quiet desperation.
Oh for some hope, for something triumphant, for a victory and for fillies and roses.
And here comes exactly that in the shape of Galway four-piece, NewDad none of whom, as far as they know, are dads. Avoiding the easy and oft traveled road of digging out a copy of “Definitely Maybe” or “The White Album” and wearing a pair of Samba while sporting the sort of hairstyle that was last acceptable in 1998 they have, instead, decided to do something genuinely radical…create music that wants to move you and not simply remind you of other music.
This is the sound of music from the heart.
This is music from the soul.
Something honest.
Something pure.
Thank God, something beautiful, delicate and careful.
It is possible to hear the ghosts of other beautiful, delicate and careful music here if you listen carefully. These are musicians who understand the importance of Curve and The Cure, and probably in that order. This is a band who have an ear for The Pixies and Galaxie 500. It is even possible, if you have ears to hear, the whispers of The Cranberries and The Sundays.
Things shimmer and shine on a NewDad song.
Voices and guitars whisper quietly here.
But this is not the fey world of indie that is schmindie. There is strength and purpose, confidence and desire. The spirit of Hole and Kathleen Hannah is present. These are melody makers, new music with a desire to express.
I have awoken the black dog in recent weeks. Depression has gripped me in its terrifying hands. I haven’t felt anything for too long. Sleep is broken and unsatisfactory. My mood has flatlined. Everyday living is a chore. What strange power music has at times like this. But only something this thrilling could have wrapped itself around my half beating heart and stirred me.
New music that is simply new isn’t enough.
New music that just sounds exactly like old music will never do.
New music that is informed by the past, that is cut through by a desire to be its own thing…that is what is required. NewDad deliver.
Happy birth day.
Read our rundown of this weeks single releases
WIGAN BAND RIVVER RELEASE AMAZING NEW SINGLE 'SMILE BACK' ON 4TH DECEMBER. PRE-SAVE HERE.
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