Galway, Ireland · shoegaze · indie rock

NewDad

4 festivals played ↓

Galway four-piece dealing in gauzy, low-slung shoegaze with a persistent undertow of dread — Irish gloom in slow motion.

NewDad grew out of a group of schoolfriends in Galway: Julie Dawson, Sean O'Dowd and Fiachra Parslow began playing together, with O'Dowd initially recording their early demos before joining full-time on guitar. The lineup settled around Dawson on vocals and guitar and Parslow on drums, joined onstage by bassist Marie Freiss.

The band works in a slow, heavy-lidded strain of indie rock, with layered guitars, reverb-soaked textures and vocals delivered close to the microphone. Critics have compared their sound to the Cure, Beabadoobee and Just Mustard, pairing melody with a heavier low end.

They built an audience through a run of EPs, Waves and Banshee, both recorded with producer Chris Ryan in Belfast, with Banshee mixed by John Congleton, before releasing their debut album, Madra, whose title translates from Irish as "dog," in January 2024.

The songs tend toward unease and interior monologue rather than release, with the tension held in the arrangements, quiet verses giving way to walls of distortion. Following the success of Banshee, the band relocated to London.

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shoegazeindie rock