“My favourite Irish song of the year. I am a huge fan.” – Ciara King, RTE Radio 1
“A rich, intriguing sound.” – The Sunday Independent
“There’s a sense of grandeur to the songwriting.” – Chordblossom
Wexford-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Conor Miley returns with ‘Raise Your Red Flag’, a new single and accompanying live studio video released on Tuesday, March 31st, 2026. The release marks Miley’s first new material since his acclaimed debut album ‘Thousand Yard Stare‘ and signals a shift toward a more direct, energetic sound.
Written specifically to be performed and recorded live with a band, ‘Raise Your Red Flag’ departs from the painstaking, layered approach that defined much of Miley’s earlier work. Alongside its forthcoming sister track ‘Peepshow’, the song addresses political polarisation and the emergence of extremist and conspiratorial voices within the mainstream, interrogating how empathy and common sense can be sacrificed beneath rigid political affiliation.
After an intensive period of lyric writing and refinement, Miley assembled a band with the intention of capturing the tension, interaction and collective energy that only emerge when musicians perform together in real time. Following a small number of rehearsals, the group entered the studio to record a live performance, allowing the dynamics of the ensemble to shape the final recording. The session took place at Monique Studios, Cork, with recording by Christian Best (Mick Flannery), whose work has been central to many landmark Irish records of recent years.
The song is accompanied by a live studio video filmed at Monique Studios, with cinematography by Michael-David McKernan (Elaine Mai, Daithí), a longtime collaborator whose visual work has accompanied several of Miley’s most celebrated releases. Conceived as a document of real-time performance, the video foregrounds the physicality and emotional connection of musicians playing together — a conscious response to the rapid rise of AI-generated music.
Miley says of the track:
“Departing from the painstaking way I usually arrange songs, I wrote ‘Raise Your Red Flag’ to be performed and recorded live with a band. Recording and filming the performance was a deliberate choice — to document the raw, human power of musicians playing together, and to preserve the emotional connection at the heart of live music.”
Miley’s debut solo album ‘Thousand Yard Stare‘ (2023) was widely praised across Irish and international press, with Ciara King (RTÉ Radio 1) calling it “my favourite Irish song of the year”, while The Sunday Independent highlighted its “rich, intriguing sound”. The album’s title track was playlisted on RTÉ Radio 1, and outlets including Hot Press, Nialler9, Lost in the Manor, Chordblossom and The Last Mixed Tape praised its emotional weight, songwriting ambition and sonic scope.
With ‘Raise Your Red Flag’, Miley opens a new chapter — one that retains the emotional depth and compositional strength that have defined his work to date, while embracing the urgency, intensity and communal force of live performance.
Connect with Conor Miley