Conor O’Brien has announced the sixth Villagers album That Golden Time is out on May 10th on Domino.
The followup to the Villagers album Fever Dreams, takes its title from the song of the same name – “I wanted the warmth of the record reflected in its title,” says O’Brien. “The song also touches on a theme that keeps cropping up, of romanticism versus realism. How can you have aspirational ideas about yourself and the world around you, whilst being confronted with a harsh, cold reality? The friction interested me.”
The album is largely a O’Brien solo endeavour, with guests Dónal Lunny [Planxty, The Bothy Band] on bouzouki, songwriter Peter Broderick on violin, and a group of players that O’Brien had first seen performing in a tribute to one of his great loves, Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who added soprano vocal, viola and cello.
“For me, That Golden Time has an internalised voice, so much so that I almost found it impossible to let anyone else in. It’s probably the most vulnerable album I’ve made. I played and recorded everything in my apartment, and finally, towards the end, invited people in.”
Watch and listen to ‘That Golden Time’, with a video directed by Rok Predin, and is a beautiful nod to the album’s artwork which displays a textbook drawing of a moth, an avatar for O’Brien’s feelings, disorientated by the constant glare of the mobile screen.
“The moth gets confused by the flame,” O’Brien notes, “and meets its timely demise.”
Villagers previously announced an outdoor show at Dublin’s Trinity College, and today added a big one, at London’s Royal Festival Hall in June.
Tracklisting / artwork:
- Truly Alone
- First Responder
- I Want What I Don’t Need
- You Lucky One
- That Golden Time
- Keepsake
- Brother Hen
- No Drama
- Behind That Curtain
- Money On The Mind
That Golden Time is available to pre-order on DomMart/Indies-exclusive gold vinyl, standard vinyl, CD and digitally. Pre-order: DomMart | Digital
Villagers live dates
Monday 27th May – Ancienne Belgique, Belgium
Tuesday 28th May – Paradiso, Amsterdam
Wednesday 29th May – LantarenVenster, Rotterdam
Thursday 30th May – Pop Seasons – Christianskirche, Hamburg
Saturday 1st June – Passionskirche, Berlin
Sunday 2nd June – Luxor, Cologne
Monday 3rd June – La Maroquinerie, Paris
Wednesday 5th June – Wylam Brewery, Newcastle
Thursday 6th June – Irish Centre, Leeds
Saturday 8th June – Royal Festival Hall, London
Saturday 29th June – Trinity College, Dublin
Pre-sale from 23rd Jan 10am local, general on sale 25th Jan 10am local
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