For NewDad-singer/guitarist Julie Dawson, music has always served as a safe haven for articulating what she struggles to express elsewhere – a place where she can explore her deepest emotions without compromise.
“I'm buried under blankets / Descending into madness / And there's no escape from the thoughts burned in my brain,” she coos on recent single ‘In My Head’, her confessions cocooned within Sean O’Dowd’s gauzy guitar textures. More widescreen in its scope than their previous releases, the song heralded the start of an ambitious new era for the Galway-formed four-piece. That vision is ultimately realised on Madra, NewDad’s hotly-anticipated debut for Atlantic Records.
Where their earliest bedroom recordings ‘Swimming' and 'Cry’ were characterised by an almost subaqueous murkiness, subsequent releases have presented a sharper, more lush sound. Written while living together during lockdown and recorded at the Belfast studio of their regular producer Chris Ryan, 2021’s Waves EP put NewDad on a map with a sound that extended from the swirling shoegaze of ‘I Don’t Recognise You’ to the tearstained dream-pop of ‘Blue’. 2022 follow-up, Banshee, fine-tuned that formula further, offering incandescent melodies wrapped in undulating waves of reverb. Produced once more by Chris Ryan, the EP featured additional mixing by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers).
The foundations for Madra were laid around this time, with half of the album written in Galway, and the rest completed after the band relocated to London. Dawson drew on that sense of disorientation and insecurity in her lyrics, delving into the darker reaches of her psyche. And yet, whether tackling lived experiences of heartbreak, exploring her own mental health struggles or taking inspiration from cinema, Dawson continues to achieve catharsis by sharing her experiences. In doing so she inspires a similar journey for listeners.