Acclaimed Irish indie rock band Pillow Queens announce their third studio album Name Your Sorrow, due out April 19. Alongside the big news, the band share the honest, roaring lead single ‘Gone’ out everywhere now. Plus, Pillow Queens announce a fresh string of live dates throughout the UK this June with pre-sale beginning January 25 and the general on-sale beginning Friday, January 26. The band’s biggest show to date is set for July 13 at Ireland’s Iveagh Gardens in Dublin, with tickets on sale now via pillowqueens.com/live.
The band’s triumphant third full-length album Name Your Sorrow finds the group at their most vulnerable and self-assured as they explore themes of queerness, insecurity, desire and heartbreak as well as the positivity and strength that can grow from pain. Produced by Collin Pastore (Lucy Dacus, boygenius) at Analogue Catalogue in Northern Ireland, the collection sees the group chart new territory as they give fans an all new, uninhibited look at both their artistry and humanity. With masterful instrumentation and raw lyricism, the quartet immerse listeners in a robust, emotionally-charged sonic world like never before.
Each of the twelve tracks peel back an additional layer of the human condition, from grief to joy and everything in between, culminating in a collective catharsis–a newfound sense of strength and hope in a greater sense of self. With moments of harmony and contradiction, lead guitarist and vocalist Cathy McGuinness calls the album one of intensity, loneliness and love. “It is about stages of love, loss and grief and how they can all exist alongside one another–intertwined, messy, beautiful–how both love and loss can coexist.” Tucked away in the quiet Irish countryside, the group bonded deeply, laughing, cooking for each other and playing games which resulted in a safe, supportive environment that allowed each musician to experiment, mess up, and try again. Pillow Queens credit Irish poet Eavan Bolan, English poet John Keats, and British writer C.S. Lewis among their literary inspirations during the writing process, and musically, influences range from Vampire Weekend to Barbara Streisand to Frank Ocean, Tool and Lana Del Rey.
The latest taste of the forthcoming project – the brooding, building ‘Gone’ – tells a torturous tale of exiting a collapsing relationship, with a pulsing beat that feeds a sense of uneasiness. The band says, “‘Gone'” is a song that looks into the vapid nature of brief romantic encounters and the hyperbole that can become so monotonous, it makes you jaded.” The track came about at the end of a jam session during a songwriting retreat in The Burren on the West Coast of Ireland. Lead vocalist, guitarist and bassist Pamela Connolly adds, “Lines like, ‘I was in your top five things to do’ convey a lack of self-worth that’s tackled throughout the album. It’s a song that showcases a vulnerability that allows for no silver linings–it’s the reality of how someone is feeling in the moment.”
