Award-winning composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fitzpatrick , aka Badhands , releases his new synth-heavy single ‘Movie Nights’ today, Friday, 10th February, 2023 , the same day he opens for frequent collaborator Paddy Hanna in Whelan’s (Main Room), Dublin .
‘Movie Nights’ is a song about listlessness and Hollywood films. Musically, the single marks a departure from previous Badhands tracks, drawing influence from Perfume Genius and the late-’70s swagger of David Bowie’s Berlin period.
Badhands says, “I originally wrote this song as a sort of dour folk ballad about boredom, isolation, and excessive consumption of overly sentimental and dully predictable American films. I decided to use synthesiser as the lead instrument when recording the track, to try and shake up the sound of it and take the song away from its folky, acoustic roots.”
The result is a lighter, more energetic track, juxtaposed with the gloomy nature of the lyrics. “Hollywood’s killing me,” Badhands laments over pulsating synths and lazy strums of silvery guitar.
‘Movie Nights’ is Badhands’ first release since his sophomore album Far Away in 2022. The Irish Times praised that record for possessing “a wonderfully rich sound inspired by mid-period Scott Walker and blue-chip legends and luminaries such as Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Lee Hazlewood.” Totally Dublin called it “luxuriously cinematic”, so appropriately a track from Far Away will feature in the upcoming series of Smother on RTÉ.
Badhands has spent the past number years composing scores for wildlife documentaries in collaboration with some of the world’s largest TV organisations, including the BBC , PBS , and RTÉ . He soundtracked the BBC series The Wild Gardener in 2022, and some of his songs were recently used in Tommy Tiernan’s Epic West . In 2019, his score for the Wild Cuba documentary won an award at the prestigious Jackson Wild Film Festival in the U.S., as well as winning Best Score at the 2021 Green Screen Wildlife Festival in Germany. Badhands also collaborates with artists in theatre performances, working with Maud Lee and Zoe Ni Riordan on some of their acclaimed theatre productions, such as the recent launch of their Irish Language project Éist Liom in late 2022, along with Glasshouse ensemble, at the Project Arts Centre.
