With his anticipated debut album Swirling Violets due out January 19th via Bella Union, and having previously shared the tracks “I Did Good Today” and “Rivers”, Conchúr White shares his meditative new single, “Righteous (Why Did I Feel Like That?)”. The track comes accompanied by an atmospheric, noir-style video which features Conchúr making a late-night drive – listen and watch HERE.
Commenting on the track Conchúr – pronounced Conor – says: “Lyrically, ‘Righteous’ references an infamous event from 2000. Specifically it looks at fundamentalism and finding justification for cruel intent. I’m interested in the duality of good and evil, and if we truly believe that what we are doing is righteous then is it so? Religion is obviously the reference for this track but such conviction and blind faith isn’t always reserved solely for a God. It can be found everywhere and when we place more value in our beliefs than on life, it becomes frightening.”
“I like surreal settings, but with tangible messages,” says White. A singer-songwriter from County Armagh, White navigates the dreamlike and the grounded with blissful fluency on his beautifully lambent debut album. Released through Bella Union in January, Swirling Violets is allusive and intimate, unearthly yet instantly accessible: touching on fully felt themes with grace and lightness, it’s a richly imagined album of multitudes from an instinctive talent.
As White explains it, “There wasn’t a conscious theme, though the songs operate in the same sort of space, that sense of surrealism. There’s ghosts, there’s other worlds. There’s a cosmic feeling, questions about the beginning and the end and dreams. And then there’s simpler songs, love songs about the feelings of infatuation you have when you’re young”
A music graduate who has also worked alongside young people with mental health issues, White’s story began in bands. He played in atmospheric indie-rockers Silences before their split allowed Conchúr to develop his solo voice at his own pace. That sense of freedom colors Conchúr’s music. On the Bikini Crops and Dreamers EPs, he filtered the influences of acts such as Arctic Monkeys (recent vintage) and Father John Misty into songs at once playful, referential and experiential. The moonlit plea of this year’s ‘Atonia’, a cathartic reverie on sleep paralysis, showed White’s melodic and lyrical talents blossoming.
With praise from SPIN, The Line of Best Fit, Under the Radar, Steve Lamacq, Radio 6 and others under his belt, he has also notched up touring slots with Villagers, Billie Marten, Richard Hawley, Margaret Glaspy and John Grant, who complemented White’s work warmly. Meanwhile, a recent invitation to support the mighty John Cale in concert lead to more compliments from Cale’s storied band members.
Collaborators on Swirling Violets include Matt Wiggins, who mixed the album; producers Kris Platt and Danny Morgan Ball; and co-writer/producer Iain Archer (‘Swirling Violets’). Finally, Brendan Jenkinson produced the closer, ‘Deadwood’, a serene drift through the “mystic night” under the “summer’s moonlight”. An irresistible invitation to float along with White, Swirling Violets is a magic-realist wonder from a new name to reckon with, bathed in a radiant glow.
Thoughts Words Action 