“Enola Gay will no doubt be the breakout band from Riot Fest 2023” – Chicago Sun-Times
“They are one of my favourite bands in the whole world” – Jehnny Beth
“Iggy Pop-approved …this is no retread – their songs are powering them into vicious new places.” – NME
“One day everyone’s gonna look back at how the biggest band in the world got added to this festival a day before it started and put on one of the most memorable shows we have ever seen.” – Outbreak Festival
“They are every bit as ferocious and uncompromising live as you might guess from their records!” – Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music
Widely praised by the likes of NME, Rolling Stone, DIY, So Young, Clash, Dork, Rough Trade and Upset, as well as revered musicians Iggy Pop and Jehnny Beth (including landing on the BBC 6 Music playlist), the group are back to follow up their acclaimed debut EP ‘Gransha’ with their newest extended release.
Lining up a full UK/EU tour for the autumn, the four-piece have recently finished a mammoth summer run, including notable appearances at the legendary Download Festival and Chicago’s Riot Fest (preceding Queens of the Stone Age and Viagra Boys), the latter of which saw Jehnny Beth join them on-stage and lead to them being declared as the breakout act of the festival.
Preceded by scintillating lead cuts ‘PTS.DUP’ and ‘Leeches’, ‘Casement’ arrives alongside focus track ‘terra firma’ (accompanied by a music video shot by Conor Bradley). A collaboration with Irish electronic producer and Berghain veteran Neil Kerr, Mount Palomar, ‘firma’ is the latter half of their two-part experiential track, ‘terra firma’. An introspective left-turn from what fans would expect, lyrically the track reflects on the weight of the past, its effect on the present and the fleeting nature of time. It touches on how nostalgia can seem like a facade and how one should cease dwelling once they’ve learnt and grown from their experience.
Keen to continue to push themselves sonically and to stay ahead of the curve, Enola Gay reached out to Belfast based producer, Mount Palomar, to collaborate on the EP’s closing track. Having heard a few of Fionn’s folk musings, uploaded in the dead of night, Neil suggested using one of Fionn’s stripped back acoustic tracks as the basis for a new two-part song that would shift from irish folk to abstract shoegaze electronica.
What soon took shape is undoubtedly one of Ireland’s most inventive tracks of the year, difficult to pigeon-hole and even harder to ignore.
With the chopped up and sampled guitars serving as the impetus for the new work, Mount Palomar created an innovative bed of sound, over which Fionn’s somber vocals take centre-stage. Capitalizing on Mount Palomar’s inventive knack for song arrangement and molding new timbres and textures, a cacophony of shoegaze guitars, deep sub bass and experimental jungle beats add to a track that explores the band’s electronic influence and desire to continue to push forward.
Detailing their latest track, Enola Gay explained: “There’s a case to be made that Irish folk is punk music in its purest form, songs for and by the underdogs of society. Feeling like it is the right time to broaden our sound, we want to offer something unexpected so we turned to our good friend and mentor Neil Kerr, Mount Palomar. Fionn put down the bass and stepped up as our singer once we heard his capabilities through his folk renditions. Fionn had written terra some time ago and it was debatable whether it would ever become an Enola track however upon hearing it, Neil sensed it was our chance to delve further into areas of our potential which so far, have remained dormant. After a session of Neil sampling terra, firma was born.”
Enola’s ‘Casement’ EP also sees Johnny Hostile take the helm as producer. Hostile is best known for his production on both Mercury Prize nominated Savages albums, a pairing that transpired after he reached out to the quartet directly wanting to know more.
Commenting on their EP release, the band revealed: “Casement explores untapped potential, displaying more of our sonic palate. We’ve proven we can do heavy, now we’re showing you we can do more. We wil continue to become a more dynamic band and push the limits of what a punk band can be.”
Produced by Johnny Hostile (Savages), Enola Gay’s ‘Casement’ (EP) is out now via Modern Sky and available on all digital platforms.
‘Casement’ EP – Tracklist
01 – Leeches
02 – PTS.DUP
03 – terra
04 – firma (feat. Mount Palomar)
05 – terra firma
Live Dates
14th Nov – Mash House, Edinburgh
15th Nov – Room 2, Glasgow
16th Nov – Adelphi, Hull
17th Nov – Key Club, Leeds
18th Nov – Crofters Rights, Bristol
21st Nov – Le Pub, Newport
22nd Nov – YES (Pink Room), Manchester
23rd Nov – Underworld, London
24th Nov – Green Door Store, Brighton
25th Nov – Joiners Arms, Southampton
27th Nov – UBU, Rennes
28th Nov – Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing
29th Nov – Le Point Éphémère, Paris
30th Nov – Trix Cafe, Antwerp
2nd Dec – De Gudde Wellen, Luxembourg
4th Dec – Bumann & Sohn, Cologne
6th Dec – Hafenklag (Goldener Salon), Hamburg
7th Dec – Badehaus, Berlin
Enola Gay is Fionn Reilly (vocals), Joe McVeigh (guitar), Adam Cooper (bass), Luke Beirne (drums)
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