Indie-folk duo Lemoncello share their long-awaited debut LP, a self-titled album released via the iconic Claddagh Records label. Honest and deliberate, yet seductive and oblique, Lemoncello challenges both writer and listener to define the indefinite, to channel the universal into the intimate.
A fluid record that arrives and settles like good company, Lemoncello lands and transports the listener through nine tracks; narrating the journey of learning to defend oneself in life, in the midst of the growth, ending and renewal of relationships with ourselves and with others.
Following the release of singles 'Harsh Truths' and 'Old Friend', the album is today accompanied by lead single 'Dopamine' along with a music video, which addresses these same themes through the technologically dystopian lens of doom-scrolling. .
On this standout single from the record, Quirke and Kinsella search for a sense of self amid an avalanche of brightly colored distractions and sculpted and fried nonsense. Harmonies appear and blur, ensuring haunting lyricism. Intense, roaring acoustics mix with eerie synths and crafted sounds, giving weight to the question posed: “If I erase my face, will my body disappear?”
Video director Sophie O'Donovan explains: “With the Dopamine video we wanted to play with the idea of being addicted to your phone, without taking it too seriously. We created a world that is a mix between bored housewives of the 1950s and a dystopian future where people never leave their homes. As Laura and Claire move toward their destination, the people they see online appear in the room with them.”
Moving from songs of wry, off-kilter confrontation to unwavering openness and vulnerability, Lemoncello is an album of questions, not answers, asking how much one must give up to become whole. From the fantastical yearning of 'All The Good Men' to the penitent release of 'Sunflower', the inimitable alchemy that occurs when Quirke and Kinsella sing together is a prominent force on the record: daring, defiant vocals traverse a minimalist yet spectacular soundscape of finger-picked cyclical guitar and earthy, gritty cello. These elements persist and merge into a perfect union founded on the couple's long friendship. Listeners are drawn into these warm sonic halls, lifted and pushed by strong dynamic string sections, soulful piano, commanding double bass progressions and compelling percussion – a singular sound embedded in the roots of Irish folk, led by pop attitude. indie out of place.
The duo's chemistry and dynamics are captured and amplified by the album's production at Analogue Catalog Studios, where the pair recorded and mixed the album to 2-inch tape with producer Julie McLarnon at the helm. McLarnon, who has brought his analog recording philosophy and approach to albums by artists such as The Vaselines, Brigid Mae Power, Yorkston Thorne Khan, Lankum and Junior Brother, left a distinctively raw, unadorned and old-school stamp on the record. .
The band says about the recording experience: “Recording the album to tape seemed like the right way to capture the energy between us as a band. It's not recorded on tape to make a truly clean product – and that's not what this album is – it's an unfiltered document of a place and time. It was a pleasure to work with Julie. We didn't look at a computer screen the entire time we made the record. The best part about recording to tape is the limitations that come with it. – So this way we benefit from having to make decisions quickly and trust instinct and feel more than just technical “correctness.” Magic comes when you trust it.”
Previously nominated for Best Folk Song and Best Emerging Folk Performance at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, the duo's spellbinding performances have also seen them play Dublin's legendary Vicar Street, the Irish Arts Center NYC, London's Bush Hall and opening for esteemed artists such as Lisa O'Neill, Sam Amidon, Glen Hansard and Cormac Begley.
Lemoncello has recently announced an extensive tour of Ireland and the UK, tickets for which are now on sale through limoncelloireland.com.
Album track listing
1. Always Neighbors
2. Sunflower
3. Michael Furey
4. mantelpiece
5. Hard truths
6. dopamine
7. All good men
8. Old friend
9. Love Lagan
live dates
May 4 – Limerick – Dolans
May 5 – Feile na Bealtaine, Dingle (with Cormac Begly)
May 9 – Belfast – Ulster Sports Club
May 10 – Kilkenny – Cleere's
May 11 – Maynooth Festival of Music and Minds
May 15 – Dublin – Whelans
May 19 – Cork – Coughlans
May 23 – Wexford – Wexford Arts Center
May 26 – Dundalk – The Spirit Store
May 29 – Glasgow – The hug and the pint
May 30 – Newcastle – The Groove
May 31 – Manchester – Hallé @ St Michaels
June 2 – Southbourne – The Wight Bear
June 3 – Brighton – The Folklore Rooms
June 4 – London – The Moth Club
thanks to our partners at www.xsnoize.com
