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Deoraí Drops Video For New Single ‘Phase’

January 25, 2021

Following a year in which they released their first four singles, Irish-language collective Deoraí have hit the ground running in 2021 with the release of the music video for their newest single ‘Phase’.

Jack Delaney, who fronts Deoraí, describes ‘Phase’ as being written from the perspective of a character talking to a friend who has fallen into a deep depressive state and has begun isolating themselves from family, friends, and support networks. “It’s particularly relevant during lockdown,”  Delaney adds of the track’s inspiration.

Delaney describes how the video brings a unique viewpoint into play, by noting the significance of the video’s character. “The character is visiting the grave of this friend and her ghost appears and dances: something which the character doesn’t see” Delaney explains, “There is a kind of multi-timeline element to the song/video as it is not clear from the lyrics if the person is still alive or not and whether the lyrics are talking to a person who is alive or dead and what they mean when they say ‘You never know what’s beyond this phase, but I promise you you’ll come back to life again’.”

They can be seen as talking to a person trying to lift their spirits and draw them out of depression and despair, or talking to a dead person, perhaps hoping that they come back to life. In this case the whole piece is left open to context and interpretation.”

The track was written and produced by Delaney himself, and was mastered by GRAMMY Award winning producer Camilo Silva F in Columbia. In contrast, the video concept came in collaboration with filmmaker Gerard Walsh, who also produced and directed the video. The dancer featured in the film is Lara Hamilton. 

Deoraí are an independent project combining contemporary modern music and the Irish language to create something new and exciting. “I feel that although there are some Irish language acts and music,” Jack notes, “there is only a small amount of Irish language music which is breaking creative ground”. With ‘Phase’ marking the first English language track Deoraí have released, it marks a stark departure from their previous work.

Delaney, a fluent Irish speaker, only began learning the language at the age of 26 after attending school in London. Returning to Ireland, he studied twenty minutes a day, five days a week until he felt confident enough to begin to speak it after a year. Twelve months later he was comfortable and fluent.

Deoraí have a busy year ahead, with more songs set to be released over the coming months featuring a host of Irish artists. With work still to be done, Deoraí are displaying a new innovative way for artists across Ireland to incorporate the Irish language into their music, adding to the growing oeuvre.

The song ‘Phase’, and its accompanying video, was released on all major streaming platforms on Friday, 22nd of January. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kz9Va300AG4IT0McCYflQ?si=2P9g8t02S6S0z-c2Zw9AQQ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkAjftkcHLtEKw4FiriIZSQ
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/andeorai
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ceoldeorai
Instagram: https://www.instragram.com/andeorai/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andeorai/

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