Madra Salach unveil timeless debut single ‘Blue & Gold’
‘Blue & Gold’ is another standout in Ireland’s flourishing experimental folk scene.
Photo: Robbie Stickland
While Irish pop and indie acts are continuing to thrive in mainstream music, folk is quietly enjoying a resurgence all of its own. Fusing traditional folk instrumentation with post-rock intensity and avant-garde textures, Dublin alt-folk sextet Madra Salach (Irish for ‘Dirty Dog’) are firmly among them.
Having already earned a buzz in Dublin through relentless gigging and fiery festival appearances at Electric Picnic and All Together Now, Madra Salach are now seeking a wider audience with their debut single, Blue & Gold. Drawing on frontman Paul Banks’ scratchcard-winning daydreams, the track reimagines his early-twenties habit as a kind of contemporary folk fable:
“In the absence of any lucrative career path or generational wealth, I started habitually buying scratch cards in the hope of running into a small fortune in my early twenties,” Banks explained. “I usually opted for a €2 All Cash, a small ticket coloured blue and gold. My ‘get rich quick’ scheme proved unfruitful, but I did get a song out of it.”
Opening with a foggy harmonium drone, the track slowly unfurls with Banks’ raw cadence cutting through the haze. Trickling mandolin lines shimmer in the background, layering tension until they ultimately give way to a storm of pounding drums and distorted bass. Both rousing and mournful, the song’s vivid soundscape perfectly captures its themes of fleeting hope and inevitable futility.
But what makes Blue & Gold truly stand out is its ability to effortlessly bridge the old and the new. Its subject matter – the very modern ritual of buying scratchcards – is framed in a voice and musical language that could easily have surfaced a century ago. The result is a debut that is both deeply rooted and daringly modern. A confident declaration from a band already flexing their storytelling chops, compositional ambition, and fearless delivery.
Blue & Gold is out now, with more original music from Madra Salach set to follow in the coming months.
See Madra Salach live:
2nd October – Ireland Music Week, Button Factory, Dublin
11th October – Tenement Trail, Glasgow
12th October – Deadlions, Edinburgh
14th October – One’s to Watch @ The George, London
16th October – Supporting Brogeal, Falkirk
17th October – Supporting Brogeal, Glasgow
24/25th October – Left of the Dial, Rotterdam
27th October – Brogeal, Galway
30th October – Supporting Brogeal, The Academy, Dublin
13th November – TGE First 50, London
15th November – Live At Leeds