Villagers have returned with ‘That Golden Time’, the title track from Conor O’Brien’s forthcoming sixth album – out on 10 May via Domino Records. The song – which ‘touches on a theme that keeps cropping up, of romanticism versus realism’ – opens in genteel and sparse fashion as Conor recalls the romantics of a more…
Conor O’Brien’s Villagers return with sixth album ‘Fever Dreams’. Written over the past couple of years and recorded during those longer lockdown days at the start of the pandemic, the record has a central theme of escapism and finds Conor ruminating on events ranging from night swimming on a Dutch island to the inescapable power…
Villagers have shared the video for new single ‘The First Day’ and announced details of upcoming fifth album ‘Fever Dreams’ (out on 20 August via Domino – pre-order the album here). With a theme of escapism running through the songs on the new record, ‘The First Day’ finds Conor O’Brien in reflective mood as he…
We’re almost halfway through July so of course Conor O’Brien’s Villagers are bringing some more sunshine into all of our lives with ‘Summer’s Song’. Produced by Conor and mixed by Dave Fridmann (MGMT, The Flaming Lips), Conor claims it’s ‘the closest I’ll ever get to writing a pure pop song’ and reveals ‘it was really…
Ivor Novello Award-winning Conor O’Brien’s Villagers project returns with fourth album ‘The Art of Pretending to Swim’. A huge favourite with Spectral Nights ever since we first heard ‘Becoming a Jackal’ back in 2010, this record promises a fuller sound than his previous album = the sparse and intimate (yet no less special) ‘Darling Arithmetic’.…
Conor O’Brien’s Villagers return with new album ‘The Art of Pretending to Swim’ (Domino) on 21 September. Ahead of the release, you can watch the striking video for ‘A Trick of the Light’. Directed by Bob Gallagher, the Lynchian video follows a ‘dishevelled shamanist’ as he believes he triggers an altered state of consciousness in…
It’s been another strong year in the world of music and it’s always hard to whittle your favourite albums down to five but it wouldn’t be this site without doing a ‘Top 5’, would it? We don’t know what the employees of Championship Vinyl would make of 2015’s output but we’re pretty certain they’d find…
Signed to Super Fan 99 Records, we had high hopes for Matt McKee, especially as the press release referenced the likes of Evan Dando and Elliott Smith. When we were lucky enough to see Matt at the recent all-dayer at Aldershot’s West End Centre, we were mesmerised. Soul-searching songs and self-depreciating wit, the whole crowd…
Conor O’Brien and his Villagers project has long been a favourite with us here at Spectral Nights. From his debut appearance on Jools Holland performing a solo rendition of ‘Becoming a Jackal’ to the album of the same name and then the more experimental tints of second full-length ‘{Awayland}’, we’ve always found him one of…
We’ve been huge fans of Villagers ever since Conor O’Brien appeared on Jools Holland a few years back to deliver a stunning solo rendition of ‘Becoming a Jackal’. The album of the same name lived up to the potential of its lead single and then 2013’s ‘{Awayland}’ saw Conor invite his bandmates into the fold…
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