NewDad

NewDad crafted an intimate and weary take on 1980s and 1990s alternative rock, alternating between fuzzy textures, shimmering layers, and rumbling drive. Fronted by Julie Dawson’s airy, tepid vocals, the Galway-formed quartet earned strong Irish acclaim for their 2021 debut EP Waves, then issued the follow-up Banshee in 2022 before unveiling the full-length MADRA in 2024, all while sustaining their signature contrast between muscular force and gentle dynamics.

The group originated in 2018 when secondary-school classmates Dawson on vocals and guitar, Áindle O’Beirn on bass, and Fiachra Parslow on drums began playing together. Sean O’Dowd, then studying music technology, started engineering their recordings and soon joined as lead guitarist. Their debut single “How” surfaced in March 2020; later that November the band recorded a live session for BBC 6 Music. The melancholic Waves, tracked in Belfast with engineer Chris W. Ryan and containing the widely circulated “Blue” alongside “I Don’t Recognise You,” arrived in March 2021, after which NewDad entered regular rotation on BBC Radio 1 and began performing across the United Kingdom. They reunited with Ryan for Banshee, which John Congleton mixed, and released the EP in February 2022. Throughout the year the quartet supported Dope Lemon, opened for Paolo Nutini, sold out a headline U.K. tour, and appeared at events such as Paris’ Rock en Seine.

After signing with Fair Youth/Atlantic Records and adding bassist Cara Joshi in place of O’Beirn, the band issued its first release on the label, “In My Head,” in May 2023. The track was produced with Riley Macintyre and Jacob Manson. Returning once more to Ryan, they completed their January 2024 debut album MADRA—Irish for “dog”—which Alan Moulder mixed.