Irish post-rock stalwarts And So I Watch You From Afar have announced their seventh full-length album, 'Megafauna', which will be released on August 9, 2024 via Berlin's Pelagic Records.
A tribute to the two places the collective calls home, their beloved Portrush on the north coast of Ireland and the beating heart that is Belfast; 'Megafauna' is a headstrong exploration and heartfelt appreciation with all the insight, intimacy and humor of four firm friends approaching their 20th year as a band and a nod to the Irish roots that simultaneously ground them and propel them forward.
Like so many other bands and creatives during the pandemic, ASIWYFA found themselves suddenly at a standstill, with any plans outside their immediate vicinity put on hold indefinitely. However, when this might have caused other acts to fail, ASIWYFA took solace in their community bond and, as soon as they could, began writing a record that quickly became a love letter to the communities they call home.
The intention behind 'Megafauna' is clear from the beginning. Two guitars, bass and drums, all recorded in a week, come to effervescent life in a rush of endorphins of collaboration and togetherness after the physical and psychological desert of isolation.
The album's lead single, 'Do Mór', is an absurdly playful collision of rollicking guitar hooks, effortless jazz syncopation and the triumphant return of ASIWYFA's inimitable wall-of-sound distortion. It serves as an anthem for the entire album and for a reunited and revitalized band of friends as well; proudly wearing their distinctive juxtaposition of joyous euphoria and discordant musical confrontation on their sleeves.
Listen to 'Do Mór' – BELOW:
'Megafauna' is the band's first new music since 2022's critically acclaimed 'Jettison', an ambitious multimedia ensemble piece packed with experimentation and collaboration. Jokingly referring to 'Jettison' as their mature record, the band framed the writing of 'Megafauna' around their long-standing mantra of 'DO THE SCARY THING', which sees ASIWYFA constantly hurtling towards novelty, progress, evolution and the unknown. . While the new record is that ASIWYFA adopts a more familiar and traditional form; In this post-'Jettison', post-pandemic world, 'Megafauna' is a deafening, defiant statement of intent from the band's driving core: a wake-up call to the communities that shape them, a resplendent celebration of togetherness above separation.
And this is how Rory Friers looks at you from afar in 'Megafauna':
“'Megafauna' is essentially a distilled nickname for our peers; all the friends and characters we have grown up with and who have made us and our homes what we are today. “Lockdown was an intensely introspective and reflective process, putting the comfort of community at the forefront of our minds throughout the writing process.”
And So I Watch You From Afar will play the 15th edition of Pelagic Fest in Maastricht, NL, August 24-25, 2024.
Find more information and tickets here.
And So I Watch You From Afar will be touring the UK in December:
13/12 – Manchester, New Century Hall
12/14 – Bristol, Marble Factory
12/15 – London, Electric Brixton
12/16 – Birmingham, 02 Institute
12/17 – Glasgow, San Lucas
12/18 – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
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