NewDad charge on with debut album ‘MADRA’
‘MADRA’ is slick shoegaze for the everyday existential crisis.
Photo: Alice Backham
Having spent much of 2023 releasing a series of formidable tracks in the run-up to their debut album, it’s really no wonder that NewDad’s first LP is stacked with visceral songwriting and haunting shoegaze soundscapes.
Titled MADRA (meaning “dog” in Irish) after those inescapable, unwanted feelings that follow you around like a dog, the Irish band’s first whack at an album is very much a fully formed and fully realised concept. Cara Joshi’s stylishly delivered trudging basslines set the tone for much of the album’s grungy opener, despite the pop-ier feel of second track Sickly Sweet, expertly curating that dog-like lingering feel at a guttural level, while Julie Dawson’s ghostly vocals twist in flight with lyrics that are both dark and deeply personal.
This is a band who are willing to share their innermost thoughts and say what they feel, no matter how affecting, with themes of shame, mental health issues and general dysfunction spiking through the surface of each track. But Dawson’s dreamy vocals also soften the blow of these tortured lyrics in songs such as Angel: “You’re sweet, I’m sick / I hurt myself for kicks,” allowing the album to be moving but not distressing, as it seeks to provide evidence of shared feelings among the troubled and therefore provide comfort, rather than be a difficult listen.
The intrigue of Dawson’s haunting voice does not eclipse the melodic and rhythmic skill of the rest of the band though (Sean O’Dowd on guitar and Fiachra Parslow on drums). Killer riffs and dramatic drums on Where I Go lead into a collection of hooky dream-pop tracks like the addictive In My Head and Dream of Me where fizzing guitar riffs update grungy pop for the 21st century with a lovely bit of creative flair. Meanwhile, singles like Let Go and Nightmares remain guitar-driven powerhouse pieces that are impossible to ignore.
MADRA is a real feat for a band who had so much expectation resting on their first release. Multiple tracks on the LP could easily become alt classics in the years to come, Dawson’s existential lyrics and sickly-sweet vocals emphasise the band’s individuality, and the quartet’s streamlined vision for their work concocts several epic soundscapes. NewDad have all the ingredients to become Ireland’s next great thing and right now it seems that time will only prove this to be true.
MADRA is out now via A Fair Youth/Atlantic Records.