June Gigs in Furey’s of Sligo and Whelan's Dublin

Am delighted to get out to play a snap of gigs in June to mark the release of 'Embers' from the album 'Keg'. 

We will return to Furey's in Sligo on June 21st and that is kicking off at 10pm.

Then we will take to Whelans Upstairs for a full band on Wednesday June 26th. Support on that night will be from indie experimental act Akrobat, who will play a stripped back unplugged set. It will be a cool night of music and great to get back to playing live.

Tickets for Whelans are available here. 

Go well,

P

Also, PS, here is a video we made earlier this year for SAGA, directed by Ursula Woods.

Embers

She is taking herself apart before our sceptical gaze…

In ‘Embers’ I big ole name drop Ben Okri…and I’m thinking about this piece he write about a dancer and her vulnerability….in those moments before she takes flight, before she moves into her artistic form. It’s about that feeling that pushes back against your courage, that wants to keep you small. And you have to lean forward and…. fall for … moments…..

Like all the tracks on the album, it was recorded with Julie at Analogue- with Stephen Kiernan on drums, Billy on keys and Ciaran McGreevy on bass. I love the rhythmic guitar, snarly and direct.

And so…

And So It Flies - 'Keg' - My New Album 

Dear Friends,


My new record 'Keg' is out now. I started recording it in August 2021 and completed it fully only a few weeks ago. Over the course of the record there were some challenges. The first day I sat down to record, taking a break after the very first session I learned of the heartbreaking news, that a very close friend of mine, Gregory, had died suddenly. I was devastated. As I'd made quite a few arrangements to set up the session, I decided to push on, despite everything that was going on. So for that reason, I will never forget these sessions and songs. I figured that I could use the drug of grief and channel it into something. As it happened, I'd two songs which referenced Greg prepared for the album, which none of my other albums had so that was uncanny. They were weird to record but maybe cathartic too. To be honest, the initial weeks after Greg's death I carried on with the sessions, I was definitely all over the shop...but I just dove into the sessions and pretended to know what I was doing. The fact it was on tape meant it was a different approach to prior albums, just fewer chances to go back and change things. You also have more technical limitations in terms of tracks you can record. You can work around all these things but there is a certain psychology that comes with it. I found it tough and felt quite close to abandoning it as I wasn't happy with certain takes and idiosyncrasies which mine and Julie's approach elicited. Julie said something during the recording. 'Everyone is always posting pictures of the great time they are having in the studio. But it's meant to be hard. I have worked on albums where people are really pushed to their limit and these are the best ones'. Julie has a superb back catalogue. Pressure makes diamonds I guess!   

One last thing, I called the record 'Keg' in memory of my friend. When we were kids my little brother used called Greg, 'Keg'. People's immediate thought is to think of a beer keg and revelry. I liked this as a title as it sounds throwaway and frivolous and that is the opposite of what I felt whilst going through this period of grieving and recording. All of this being said, it's a lot more catchy and immediate than some of my past work. I also think of a powder keg, something powerful. And Greg was definitely that too. 

So that's one side to the album. I have loads more to say about it but that will do for today. Thanks for sharing and listening. 

You can listen/order to it here on Bandcamp (below) or on digital services here. 

We kicked off our first show in Belfast last Sunday and are playing a few shows over the next while: 

June 16th, SLIGO, Furey’s
June 18th CLONAKILTY, De Barra’s, w/ Justin Grounds (Idiot Songs 10 year anniversary) Tickets
June 23rd, GALWAY, Roisin Dubh
June 30th, DUBLIN, The Bello Bar (tickets
July 4th, DUBLIN, Ruby Sessions
August 3rd, DUNDALK, Spirit Store


Hope to see you soon,

Pearse

My Cover of 'Your Loving Arms'

I wanted to do a little version of ‘Your Loving Arms’ by Billie Ray Martin. Always found the vocal melody and lyrics haunting and lush but wanted to take the production in a different direction. Have a listen and let me know what you think..

Songwhip - listen to Your Loving Arms on your platform of choice (CLICK TEXT).

https://songwhip.com/pearse-mcgloughlin/your-loving-arms

In Movement - Released 2012

In Movement - released 2012

My second album is ten years old. A lot of lovely memories of this one - recorded in Bow Lane with Jimmy Eadie and a fine cast of players. Tender to think of it.😂🥹

1. Antelope March

2. Bright Star

3. Morning Mist (The Birds)

4. Caught in Craft

5. The Lonely Track

6. Stage Fright

7. You and The Lion

8. Temps Perdu

9. Twine

10. Spherosphere

11. Going Away

Trivia: Tracks 2 and 3 have been covered by maestros Fia Rua and Robin James Hurt respectively.

I recorded a song called ‘Mercedes and The Kingfisher’ for the album but left it out in the end…. it’s a lovely track though also available on the ‘Twine EP’.

Lovely vinyl design by Stephen Kieran and imagery by Kieran O’Donoghue.

Available to buy from https://pearsemcgloughlin.bandcamp.com/album/in-movement

returnnng

Ey up.

A long time it has been quiet <---> I step in from the cold to speak quietly with you. 

It's been a tough period, for many reasons. I lost a very close friend, Greg, in August of last year and, well, the repercussions of that still tremor through me. I will write about it more eloquently at some point. I hope such a shattering event has never visited you. 

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Having an album to record at the same point was bizarre enough too, to tell the truth but sort of cathartic. I recorded it with Julie McLarnon in Analogue Catalogue though and that was brilliant as Julie is an unbelievable producer who knows her stuff so well. A real pro. We did several sessions over a series of months  - all recorded to tape which was a big old first for me. 8 songs. 

{[]} 8£**

I've been studying composition and music theory at college too and this has helped me massively - encouraging me to enter into a more instrumental world. The fruits of this exploration won't really appear (directly) on the next record but maybe a little further down the line. 

P

analogue catalogue

recordin’

Caretaker (Requiem)

A few weeks back on my social media I shared the last song on my album ‘The Rest’, called ‘Caretaker (Requiem)’ and I just wanted to record it here, on my website as well. The song was a tribute to a friend of mine, Mícheál Gormley who I worked with. Mícheál came to lots of our gigs at Sligo Live, we played lots of music together and had great, (extensive!) music chats. He also played the bass and for this reason I have a little bassline running through the song. Although I put the album out in October 2020, I didn’t get to deliver the record to his family until recently and that was quite a touching moment.

The song was a tribute to Mícheál but also seemed fitting as I had some other loss in my family leading up to the release of the album and of course the pandemic brought its own existential weight to bear on everything. The title for the album ‘The Rest’ comes from Hamlet’s last words ‘the rest is silence’ and I managed to fit those beautiful words into the song too.

Kudos are due to Enda Reilly who I asked for a second opinion on the song, as I wanted to do it justice and sometimes you need someone objective.

Listen to Caretaker (Requiem) on Spotify. Pearse McGloughlin · Song · 2020.

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‘the ocean takes back its islands’

Cover of 'Bright Star'

My friend Fia Rua released his new album ‘Behind The Grey’, a lovely personal and intimate album. I’m really enjoying the record, it has a lot of humour and warmth. The standout for me personally is his recording of my song ‘Bright Star’ which I originally wrote for ‘In Movement. It’s so moving to have someone cover a song you wrote. I think Eoghan does a great job of bringing out the sentiment in the song, reminds me almost of a Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash. Guitar, vocal and a sprinkling of harmonica - it doesn’t get much more sparse than this and the lyrics stand up very well.

Thanks to Eoghan for this lovely rendition and be sure to check out his album ‘Behind the Grey’.

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Fia Rua County Kildare, Ireland Fia Rua is an Irish alt-folk artist under the Urchin Collective label who has just released his 4th album "Behind The Grey". He will be gigging in Ireland and Europe.

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