Irish alt-rock trio NewDad have announced details of their second album Altar, set for release on 19th September.
Alongside the news comes new single ‘Roobosh’, a blast of frustration and self-expression that leans harder into the band’s noisier side.
Built around a punchy, melodic core and streaked with seething vocal energy, ‘Roobosh’ was born from a desire to break free of expectation. “‘Roobosh’ is just about being fed up,” says vocalist and guitarist Julie Dawson. “Women get angry and we are expected to contain our rage, but on this song, I just allowed myself to go there. I wanted a song where I could moan and scream…and honestly it was just a bit of fun.”
The track is accompanied by a one-shot video directed by Peter Eason Daniels and Rory Mullen, the same pair behind the visuals for the album itself.
Written over two years following the band’s move from Galway to London, Altar traces themes of homesickness, ambition, emotional drift, and the cost of leaving home to pursue music full-time. If debut album Madra was a sonic expansion, this second record is a sharpening of focus, coloured by distance and growth.
The band’s dreamy-but-cutting sound has earned them support slots with Pixies, Fontaines D.C., and The War on Drugs, as well as headline runs across the UK, Europe, and beyond. They’ve recently returned from shows in China and Japan, and will embark on a full UK/EU tour in October, including dates at Manchester Academy 2 and London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town.
Comprised of Dawson, Sean O’Dowd (guitar), and Fiachra Parslow (Drums), NewDad’s rise continues to be stady, assured, and increasingly ambitious. On the evidence of ‘Roobosh’, Altar will find them making more noise, and taking up more space, than ever.
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