NEWDAD – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 1.2.24
Yes indeed… the joys of being a NewDad is very pertinent this week as I’m referring to the Galway quartet of Julie Dawson (vocals, rhythm guitar), Sean O’Dowd Monaghan (lead guitar), Cara Joshi (bass) and Fiachra Parslow (drums) who have dropped their debut long-played ‘Madra’ which has crashed into the Irish charts at No.6 and also the UK Vinyl Album Chart at No.9.
It seems that this alternative indie rock band who bring sombre themes to life with their easy-going sound, raw vocals and thrumming backing have literally exploded onto the scene from nowhere! In fact they actually formed back in 2018 when Julie, Fiachra and (former NewDad band member) Áindle O’Beirn hit on the plan of avoiding solo performances for their Leaving Certificate practical music exam in secondary school, but getting it together. Before they knew it Sean was on board and as a unit they became prolific in 2020 and released five singles ‘How’, ‘Swimming’, ‘Cry’, ‘Blue’, and ‘I Don’t Recognise You’. These resulted in the band accruing over two million streams on Spotify. Then on 5th November 2020, the group recorded a live session for Steve Lamacq’s show on BBC 6 Music. Their debut EP ‘Waves’ was released in March 2021 and was followed by their ‘Banshee’ EP in October of that year.
The quartet were busy writing new material throughout 2022 and 2023 and on 14th September 2023, they announced their debut album, ‘Madra’ (which translates as ‘dog’ from Irish), was scheduled for release on 26th January 2024. In support of this debut album NewDad have made a number of instore appearances throughout the land which sees the band showing off some of their tunes. And so this teatime we find ourselves in a surprisingly long queue in Kensington Gardens, Brighton awaiting the re-opening of Resident Music’s doors for a stripped back seven song live music set from the band.
The event was running 15 minutes late which was a little worry as we had to head off to Patterns immediately afterwards in order to catch Aussie trio Haiku Hands and local artist Coco And The Lost do their stuff – Review HERE.
Amazingly everyone managed to somehow squeeze into the popular record store and at 6:45pm NewDad graced us with their presence. They were seated in a row in front of the counter with Julie on vocals and Squier Jazzmaster guitar, Cara on Fender Jazz bass, Sean (sporting a BHA Skint jersey) on Continental acoustic guitar, and Fiachra on Bodhran drum. Once seated Cara exclaimed “You can get a lot of you in here” and during the set this was added to by Fiachra who said “It’s insane. Not had this many people out for an instore. Really cool so many people care”.
They opened with ‘In My Head’, the first of a half dozen tunes found on their ‘Madra’ album. From the outset Julie’s vocals were dreamy. Selection two had an emotional feel and was written with Justin Parker, this being ‘Nightmares’. I particularly enjoyed watching Fiachra playing his Bodhran drum on its side facing a microphone for full effect. ‘Where I Go’ was next and Julie impressively expanded her vocal range on this number in a gentle yet strong and confident manner. The guitars were more dominant as well. It would be interesting to hear this (and indeed the whole set) in a full concert setting.
Choice four was the mellow heartfelt ‘Angel’ which benefited from simple instrumentation. Julie then informed us that they were next going to perform an “Old song” adding “Sing along, even if not drunk”, this being ‘I Don’t Recognise You’ from 2021’s ‘Waves’ EP, which certainly reminded us of The Sundays. The penultimate track was just a duo with Julie and Fiachra, this being ‘White Ribbons’, which Julie informs us is about feeling awful the next morning after a night out! They signed off with the album’s title track, ‘Madra’, which was more up-tempo with reflective tones on the vocals and the perfect choice to leave us with and at 7:14pm they were done……except for meeting all of their loyal followers who have purchased the release in order to be present this evening.
If you missed NewDad, then although they didn’t inform us, they will actually be performing again in Brighton later on in the year when they are one of the acts playing the inaugural Brighton Psych Fest – Details HERE.
NewDad:
Julie Dawson – vocals, rhythm guitar
Sean O’Dowd Monaghan – lead guitar
Cara Joshi – bass
Fiachra Parslow – drums
NewDad setlist:
‘In My Head’ (from 2024 ‘Madra’ album)
‘Nightmares’ (from 2024 ‘Madra’ album)
‘Where I Go’ (from 2024 ‘Madra’ album)
‘Angel’ (from 2024 ‘Madra’ album)
‘I Don’t Recognise You’ (from 2021 ‘Waves’ EP)
‘White Ribbons’ (from 2024 ‘Madra’ album)
‘Madra’ (from 2024 ‘Madra’ album)
