A Ritual Sea Release Self-Titled Debut Album

A highly personal album, it is underpinned by the theme of love overcoming adversity as experienced by A Ritual Sea’s chief songwriter and singer Donna McCabe and composer, guitarist Florian Chombart, who in addition to being bandmates, are a couple.

Donna explains the context of the album: “Flo and I met 12 years ago through MySpace, being fans of each other’s bands, but we lived in two different cities – Flo was in Paris and I was in Dublin. There is something very melancholic about long distance relationships; there’s a deep loneliness and sadness when you are apart, and then an incredible high when you are together again. You create rituals around those reunions. We sent each other music all the time, to say the things we couldn’t express with words. You lie awake at night thinking of the sea that separates you – that is where the band name comes from. That longing gets deeply imprinted on you – a feeling of having been gifted something immense, but just out of reach.”

When Florian moved to Dublin two years later, the couple started working on songs together, recording in their bedroom, sharing music with friends who encouraged them to keep going, and eventually forming the live band, now a five-piece.

Another theme emerges: a fear of losing something, be it a person you love, a sense of self, your self-control or your sense of security. “We lost some people very close to us within a short space of time, in quite sudden and shocking circumstances, one of whom was in the Paris attacks in 2015. Working on the songs was a kind of therapy, something to keep you functioning, something primordial,” says Florian.

“We also moved eight times in eight years, during the making of this record, because of the rental situation in Dublin – that sense of insecurity tested us in the extreme,” says Donna. “But in the flux and grief we found a sense of stability in holding on to each other; being deeply grateful that we are still here together despite it all. That permeates the music too – a beauty in the sadness. We wanted to make cinematic music that you can just escape into.”

During the first lockdown, A Ritual Sea focused on completing their album, working with Paris-based musician and sound engineer Nicolas Subréchicot (Vagabond, Lou Doillon) to elevate their bedroom recordings to a higher level. They also received arts council funding via the Dept. of Culture and Tourism to help promote the album.

Catch A Ritual Sea live when they play the Workman’s Club on Wednesday 29th September with grunge-pop trio HAVVK.