A member of the Choice Music Prize winning band Delorentos, singer-songwriter Ro Yourell announces his arrival as a solo artist with a freight train of a single called ‘Freedom’, out on Friday, 22 September, 2023
Produced by Tommy McLaughlin (Ailbhe Reddy, SOAK, Villagers), ‘Freedom’ takes aim at the rigidity of our structures and institutions, and the unwillingness of those in power to rectify inequality. After all, as Yourell sings, we ultimately all face the same fate: “Crunching over others’ bones, ‘til all is dust and we are just the same.”
Many of us feel a lack of agency in the face of poverty, war, and climate emergency. ‘Freedom’ is about how fear can be exploited and vulnerable people turned against each other.
“It’s my state of the nation address,” says Yourell with a wry smile. “Knowingly or otherwise, I’ve always been something of an outsider. Having struggled to fit into and understand the systems within which I grew up, I’m at a place in my life where I can look at them more objectively and better articulate their impact.”
Yourell is best known for his work as a member of Delorentos, a band that’s enjoyed massive success in Ireland and internationally. The four-piece have played stages across the world and racked up a RTÉ Choice Music Prize win for their acclaimed third album Little Sparks in 2012. Ro Yourell (vocals, guitar, piano) , Kieran McGuinness (vocals, guitar), Níal Conlan (bass, backing vocals) and Ross McCormick (drums, backing vocals) last played live as Delorentos in 2019.
“We’d been going solidly for the guts of 15 years by then, but got to a point where our lives were moving in different directions,” Yourell explains. Our band has always been about four songwriters working in collaboration. For the time being, we can’t make music the way we would like to, so it felt natural to take a pause.”
Making his own music is a freeing but at times daunting experience. Having played in bands since he was 16, Yourell found it strange on his own initially: “I forged an identity as part of a collective, so I had some existential moments along the way asking, ‘Who is Ro?’”
Yourell ended up embracing this deliciously frightening unknown. He says: “An exciting thing for me in terms of my solo work is the scope. “I don’t have to take anyone else into account. I can be selfish, following the song wherever it leads me.”
As heard on ‘Freedom’, Yourell’s solo sound focuses on meditative, intimate lyrics with a distinct poetic flair and driving melody.
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