NEWDADKOKO camden // MADRAFormed for a school music assignment, with a name that plays on the lightheartedly termed genre of ‘dad music’ and the trope of the Radio 6 Dad, NewDad have become a defining force on the alt-rock scene. Hailing from Galway, the group have outgrown their beginnings in the Irish music scene and are taking the UK by storm; I attended the final date of their sold out UK and Ireland tour at KOKO Club in Camden. NewDad’s sound straddles several genres including dream pop, shoegaze, grunge and psych-rock, with an image that is equally decadent. Lead vocalist Julie Dawson and bassist Cara Joshi, the female half of the four-part band (that is completed by guitarist Sean O’Dowd and drummer Fiachra Parslow), donned a blend of white frilled dresses, corsets and lace tights, with Dawson in knee-high white boots, and Joshi sporting some extreme fur leg warmers. Their nod to the camp of glam rock made KOKO a very fitting venue, with its chandelier-lined ornate red and gold interiors. The stage was framed by two floor to ceiling drapes, each printed with towering shots of each of the members’ faces. Closed eyed, as if floating in water, the faces loomed down over us, creating an ABBA-esque invitation into the world of NewDad.
Lead singer Julie Dawson at KOKO Camden • Illustrated by Kitty Pilgrim-Morris
Prior to the release of their debut album at the end of January, NewDad’s increasingly successful stream of singles and EPs was kicked off in 2020 by their track How, a droning meditation on emotional unavailability released on label Fair Youth. Across nine releases, the band established their signature driving bass lines, contrasted with Dawson’s unique floating vocals. They collaborated with producer Chris Ryan, the producer behind the music of NewDad’s Irish counterpart and inspiration Just Mustard, whose gig opening for The Cure provided a pivotal realisation for NewDad; it really is possible for a band from rural Ireland to catapult towards the heights of rock success. The album, Madra, shares these staple features but brings a newfound clarity to their sound, as well as a step into a heavier rock feel, embracing their grunge and post-punk influences such as Nirvana and The Cure. In addition to the time and space the band have afforded to really get to the crux of who they are as artists, this could have something to do with the creative team behind the album. A move to major label Atlantic Records last year brought with it all kinds of opportunity. In addition to continuing their relationship with producer Chris Ryan, the album was mastered by shoegaze luminary Alan Moulder, who has worked with titans of the genre such as Slow Dive, My Bloody Valentine and Ride - not to mention Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins and U2.
It was also recorded at Rockfield Studios, the iconic Welsh farm that has seen the likes of Black Sabbath, Robert Plant and The Stone Roses, the birthplace of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Oasis’s Morning Glory. While Liam Gallagher reminisces on being ‘off [his] face most of the time’, comparing it to ‘The Big Brother house but with tunes’ in the documentary Rockfield - The Studio on the Farm, NewDad’s fifteen day residency was far more tame. In an interview with Notion, the band recounted their time spent bonding with baby lambs in the Welsh countryside and enjoying home cooked meals from the studio’s owners. Despite the reported lack of rock and roll chaos, the record is not lacking in the slightest. Madra is a triumph, an immersive journey into the themes of self-destruction and the fragility and complexities of the human condition. Big topics as these are, they are handled with sophisticated care and detail, never shying away from vulnerability whilst also not slipping into the unnecessarily morose. Within NewDad’s sound one can hear the influence of the Pixies, in the way they juxtapose the ethereal and the harsh, the muted and the epic. The way Dawson’s voice sits draped lightly over unrelenting drums, infectious bass riffs and abrasive guitars is reminiscent of The Cranberries. However, despite the depth and richness of their sonic references and love for these bands, never does it feel imitative; what NewDad have discovered together is something entirely original.
They opened their KOKO set with the opener of the album, my personal favourite Angel, and similarly closed with the album’s finale, also titled Madra. In between they took us on a dreamlike dive into their discography, including the singles that brought them their first glimpses of wider success, Blue and I Don’t Recognise You. For me the latter is a highlight of Dawson’s lyrical mastery - recounting a reel of snapshot encounters within a relationship, in an almost singsong, fairytale manner, the emotional punch is in the subtlety and the subtext; ‘...you burst through the door and you tell me that you love me, but there’s a madness in your eyes, and you’re trying to disguise, that you’re really not alright’. Teasing us by wordlessly leaving the stage towards the end of their set triggered chants for one more song, before Dawson and drummer Parslow re-entered for a stripped back rendition of White Ribbons. Introducing the song as a love letter to our bodies, thanking them for soldiering on despite the times we ‘treat them like shite’, Dawson played the heartfelt softer track while Parslow played a single handheld drum. On its closing, the rest of the band joined them for the final track. Coming at the end of a set laced with lyrics that, through a distinctly adult lens, tackle the chaotic angst and pain of growing up and navigating life, the closing song Madra felt like a celebration of the melancholy, a revelling in the beauty that can be found when we don’t shy away from our darker sides, an almost euphoric close to the night.
Despite the crowd taking a moment to warm up, it was an incredibly memorable night. Later described on their socials as ‘the best night of [their] lives’, NewDad appeared as warm and relaxed as if they were performing to a room packed with friends - which, at times, it felt like the audience were; the night had a celebratory atmosphere, audience and performers alike both incredibly invested in the trajectory towards mainstream success that this band seem to be on, removing any potent sense of hierarchy between them. After a fire that engulfed a third of the building’s roof in the beginning of 2020, KOKO’s recent £70m refurbishment was evident in the crystal clear soundsystem - even over the crashing instrumentation, Dawson’s vocals were ethereal and delicate. Somewhere between this lack of any mud or wailing feedback in the live mix and Dawson’s calm and collected demeanour, their live performance felt perhaps closer to the dreamier and more mellow world of their earlier EPs, losing a bit of the punch that I received from my first listen to the album. However, whether it was a dream or a nightmare that NewDad lured us into, I felt completely submersed in their world; now back in reality, I am already looking forward to entering it again.
Author: Kitty Pilgrim-Morris
12/03/2024