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Funeral Suits
July 8, 2016
Live at
Whelan’s, Friday July 8th 2016
Tickets €14.00 including booking fee on sale now from Ticketmaster
Doors 8pm|Over 18s- ID Required
Irish alternative-rock band Funeral Suits break their silence with the release of a brand new track – “Tree Of Life” – their first new music since the release of their debut album “Lily Of The Valley” almost four years ago.
Formed in Dublin in 2008, Funeral Suits (the name is inspired by a love of the first Arcade Fire album) released a clutch of handmade singles before they came into contact with legendary Britpop producer Stephen Street, best known for his work with The Smiths and Blur. They worked together over a couple of years, bagging studio time when the band could afford it, on the songs that would form the basis of their debut album. A single from these sessions – “Color Fade” – emerged in 2011.
Around this time, Funeral Suits came to the attention of Dublin based independent label Rubyworks; and the debut album “Lily Of The Valley” (a discreet nod to ‘Breaking Bad’) came out in summer 2012. The band developed a relationship with cutting edge Irish videographers, Shaun Ryan in particular. The trilogy of clips they did together, loosely based on “The Lord Of The Flies”, started to cement Funeral Suits reputation online, as their videos – strange emissaries of nightmarish dread – seeped into the consciousness of millions of music fans from Mexico to Milan to Minneapolis. These sly cinematic increments, led by the terrifying “All Those Friendly People”, enabled the band to tour Europe and the US, before they reconvened to start writing again, in the UK, Ireland and Sweden; at the end of 2014, which coincided with Nat Walker of Chromatics delivering an epic remix of “ATFP”.
Funeral Suits spent much of summer 2015 in Germany, in a studio overlooking the Mauerpark in Berlin. The band worked with producer Jochen Schmalbach – best known for his work with Rammstein and Klangkarussell – on the songs for the forthcoming album. The father-and-son team of Ken and Jolyon Thomas has done additional production and mix work; Ken is best known for his work with Sigur Ros and M83, while Jolyon has recently enjoyed success with Slaves.
The first progeny of their collective labours is “Tree Of Life”, emerging blinking into the spring sunlight as the lead track from a new Funeral Suits EP which will be released later in the summer. A video for “Tree Of Life” – directed by long-time cohort and kindred spirit Shaun Ryan – is currently in production.
Funeral Suits are:
Brian James – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass
Mik McKeogh – vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass
Darragh Grant – bass, guitar
Greg McCarthy – drums
“Tree Of Life” will be released on Rubyworks on all streaming and download platforms on Friday 1st April.