This has been a hot year for many artists – with the lockdown providing ample stay-at-home time, many have used that opportunity to create and finish off music that they had already started on (but couldn’t finish with the day-to-day challenges in the pre-Covid era). So we can thank that year for allowing the recording and release of two 3-track offerings by Irish music icons David Long and Shane O’Neill. The latest of these is their ‘Dreams Come’ EP, following up the ‘Far From Home’ EP. Both releases by these Irish music legends stand up to anything ever released by The Go-Betweens, The Sound or Tom Petty, both of which the duo’s music has been likened to in reviews published over the past year.
The title track features sweet, uplifting melody intertwined with bittersweet lyrics – a seeming nod to a love that could be fraying at the edges. From the beautiful opening chords, right through to the end, it will make you feel like you want more of whatever it is. Love, loss, hope, all of it.
Best known as frontmen of successful 1980’s post-punk / indie rock bands Into Paradise and Blue In Heaven, respectively, now they are together creating invigorating new music.
David Long was the face of 1980s band Into Paradise, who released two albums and several EP’s on legendary British independent label Setanta Records and also one major – Ensign. Their most successful album was their major record label debut, the Adrian Borland-produced ‘Churchtown’.
Shane O’Neill fronted Blue In Heaven, who released several singles and demos (including one produced by U2′s The Edge) before signing to Island Records in 1985. Their debut album ‘All The Gods Men’ was produced by Martin Hannett (Joy Division, Magazine, New Order, OMD, Happy Mondays). 1986 brought the ‘Explicit Material’ LP, produced by Island Records head Chris Blackwell and Eric Thorngren. Their popularity grew as they did the live circuit with U2, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Damned and New Order. The band later reformed in 1990 as The Blue Angels.
Hailing from the same part of Dublin, Long and O’Neill have known each other since they were 6 or 7, when they knocked over Shane’s TV set, fighting over which channel to watch. Their first band was a trio called amuse with David on bass and vocals, Shane on guitar, and Dave Clarke (Warren Zevon, now Hothouse Flowers) on drums. After splitting and doing their separate thing, around 1996 they recorded an album as Supernaut.
Recorded remotely during the lockdown, this release previews their ‘Moll & Zeis’ LP, which will be released in autumn.
“We wanted to make an album that could and should be listened to all the way through. It was an equal collaboration, Shane and myself have known each other so long that there was never a problem editing each other if something didn’t fit with the song. We had no time restrictions, or release dates to go by, so we took our time with this album and thought about every aspect of it,” says David Long.
As of August 13, the ‘Dreams Come’ EP will be available across online platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where the ‘Far From Home’ EP can also be found. The full ‘Moll & Zeis’ album will be released everywhere digitally on September 10. Both EPs can be found at davidlong4.bandcamp.com
TRACK LIST
1. Dreams Come
2. Meet Me On Another Day
3. You Are Always On Your Own
CREDITS
Written, arranged, recorded and produced by David Long & Shane O’Neill
Album Cover Art by Noel Farrell
Country Pylon Recordings 2021
Support, follow and fan out over David Long and Shane O’Neill
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