Ailbhe Reddy is today announcing her new album Endless Affair – the follow-up to her critically acclaimed Choice Music Prize-nominated (Best Album) debut album Personal History – and sharing new single ‘Shitshow ’ [or ‘Hitshow’ for radio]. Endless Affair is due 17th March 2023 via MNRK UK.
2022 saw Ailbhe move to London from her native Dublin after signing with MNRK and make her UK festival debuts at The Great Escape, Visions Festival and Latitude Festival, winning great swathes of new fans along the way.
Today, new single ‘Shitshow’ – a humbling account of a party’s aftermath set to fuzzed-up, down-trodden guitars – officially heralds the announcement of her new album.
Eagle-eyed viewers of the official video for ‘Shitshow’ as well as the Endless Affair album artwork are likely to recognise some familiar faces and the Dublin location of the shoot. The video was directed by Greg Purcell of Collective Films and the artwork photography is by Ruth Medjber.
Ailbhe Reddy comments on the single: “’Shitshow’ came from a lyric I played with for a few months which was “my god, look at the state of me, this is so embarrassing, won’t you take me home?” It’s kind of addressing another person and kind of addressing myself from the perspective of the morning after. I had those lyrics for a while and while working with Tommy McLaughlin on the record he jokingly said we should call the album ‘Shitshow’ and I vowed to work that word into a lyric so it perfectly fit into this song. It’s about looking back on a night out with regret while also addressing and apologising to an ex-partner about my antics. The first verse is to myself and the second verse is to someone else. It’s kind of a tongue in cheek examination of a bad hangover.”
“Tell me how did I get here? This endless pitiful affair.” It’s quite the lyric for Ailbhe Reddy to open her new album Endless Affair with, but one that smartly captures the central idea it addresses: the challenges we face in letting go and accepting finality.
With her new album Ailbhe Reddy poses these ideas across a spectrum covering the playful and up-beat to the sombre and heart-wrenching, plotting the album’s path in a way that mirrors life’s own evolution from the care-free to the serious.
Its opening run of tracks – in particular new single ‘Shitshow’ and ‘Inhaling’- crave revelry and reflect on the wilder side of a youth increasingly viewed in the rear-view mirror. The likes of ‘A Mess’ soar atop a swell of fuzzed-up indie-rock and a chorus of joyous hollers, while the come-down hits on the quietly brutal ‘Last To Leave’. Once the final notes of the album’s arresting centrepiece ‘Shoulder Blades’ ring out, there is a palpable sense that the struggle to let go is shifting away from the backdrop of the party and into that of relationships and mortality.
This is where Endless Affair leaves the party and matures further into a story of more certain endings and letting go of life. When the album reaches its penultimate song, the stunningly vivid ‘Pray For Me’ – penned after the passing of Ailbhe’s grandmother – the strength of her song writing ability is laid out starkly. She instinctively straddles the line between emotional honesty and vulnerability, while delivering tongue in cheek moments, youthful stupidity, anger, defiance and heartache. Endless Affair exists as many of these things and leaves us with the final thought that we also do: you can be a party animal, a f*** up, a good partner, a bad partner, sensitive, unkind, a good daughter, and a bad one. All of this is rendered impressively in Endless Affair.
Ailbhe Reddy – Endless Affair album tracklisting
- Shitshow
- A Mess
- Damage
- Inhaling
- Bloom
- Last To Leave
- Shoulder Blades
- I’m Losing You’re Winning
- Good Time
- You Own The Room
- Pray For Me
- Motherhood
Hear ‘Shitshow’ on streaming services here
Watch the video here
Pre-order the album here
Ailbhe Reddy 2023 tour dates
March
10–19 – SXSW, Austin, Texas, USA
April
12 – Portland Arms, Cambridge, UK
13 – Louisiana, Bristol, UK
14 – Gullivers, Manchester, UK
15 – Hug & Pint, Glasgow, UK
16 – Brudenell, Leeds, UK
18 – Moth Club, London, UK
20 – Trix, Antwerp, UK
21 – Pop Up Du Label, Paris, FR
25 – Helios37, Cologne, DE
26 – Frannz, Berlin, DE
27 – Nochtwache, Hamburg, DE
28 – TrivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, DE
May
05 May – Whelans, Dublin, IE
06 May – Whelans, Dublin, IE
More about Ailbhe Reddy’s new album Endless Affair
Endless Affair was recorded in Donegal and produced by Tommy McLaughlin and Ailbhe Reddy.
Ailbhe Reddy – vocals, guitar, bass, piano
Tommy McLaughlin – guitar, bass, backing vocals
Ross Hannon – piano, backing vocals
James Byrne – drums
Rafino Murphy – trumpet
Sarah Corcoran – backing vocals
Artwork – Ailbhe Reddy, Ruth Medjber and Sarah Moloney
