NewDad take us to their ‘Altar’ of sound
On ‘Altar’, the Galway trio transform longing, rage and hope into a cathedral of sound.
Photo: Peter Eason Daniels
Since emerging with their 2020 debut How, NewDad – Julie Dawson (vocals/guitar), Sean O’Dowd (guitar) and Fiachra Parslow (drums) – have toured globally, supporting Pixies, The War on Drugs and Fontaines D.C., while building a reputation for lush, immersive alt-rock. Their 2024 debut album Madra was a confident, propulsive statement that not only earned them critical praise but also cemented them as one of Ireland’s most exciting rising guitar bands.
Just eighteen months on, and the trio have returned with their sophomore album Altar – a record that stretches their sound wider, digs into deeper emotions, and grapples with what’s been lost as much as what’s been gained.
Written after the band moved from Galway to London, the album is haunted by homesickness, sacrifice, and the tension between leaving and belonging. At its heart lies the Altar itself – Galway – gloomy, windswept, and often challenging, yet brimming with beauty and meaning.
The opener, Other Side, immediately establishes this duality, weaving spectral electronic flourishes into the band’s lush guitar palette. Dawson’s vocals — sweet but haunting — glide above the mix before the track breaks into a storm of strummed distortion. Heavyweight then grounds the record in more familiar territory, its thick basslines and rhythmic churn carrying an emotional depth that reflects the band’s growing maturity and sense of self.
Elsewhere, intimacy collides with scale. Roobosh is a full-throttle scream of discontent, proof that NewDad aren’t afraid to bare teeth. It’s their most direct track to date, while still showcasing their gift for pop-leaning hooks. Misery matches that intensity, shifting from hushed verses to a spiralling, tempestuous chorus, with racing percussion and sharp strings amplifying its fractured drama.
As the record unfolds, this gloom gives way to light. Entertainer, carried over from their latest EP Safe, layers slacker-rock cadences, warped guitars and synth flourishes into a meditation on identity and expectation, before Mr Cold Embrace paints a stark, wintry landscape with soft, layered guitars and emotional strings. Evoking the image of trudging through snow toward a distant glow, Dawson’s lyrics capture the tension between isolation and longing, vulnerability and resilience: “Comfort me, save me / I’ll just keep praying / You’ll comfort me.”
Finally, Something’s Broken encapsulates the spirit of Altar. Above shimmering, reverbed guitar, Dawson sings of fracture and fragility, but also the stubborn act of hope: “Something’s broken, but here’s me hoping.” This lyric distils the album’s entire emotional arc – acknowledging despair but refusing to let it win – in a final display of poignant beauty that lingers long after the final note.
Throughout Altar, NewDad sound more assured than ever. The trio balance their signature gloom with sharper edges, broader textures, and a newfound emotional clarity. Steeped in homesickness and sacrifice, the record doesn’t shy away from struggle, but discovers resilience and beauty in the wreckage. On their second album, NewDad have taken everything that makes them stand out and sharpened it into something fiercer, fuller and unmistakably their own.
Altar is out now via A Fair Youth.