Today, Villagers share “You Lucky One”, the second single from the forthcoming sixth album That Golden Time – due May 10th. The exquisite new record unfurls award-winning Dublin singer-songwriter-instrumentalist-dramatist Conor O’Brien’s trademark melodic flair, his gift for simultaneously vivid and subtle arrangements and lyrics that couch his hopes, fears and dreams in richly absorbing poetry.
“You Lucky One” follows on from the release of title track “That Golden Time”, and features Irish legend Dónal Lunny [Planxty, The Bothy Band] on bouzouki. The song ties into the album artwork’s secondary image, an Irish twenty pence piece. “The types of physical currency change throughout time, but the essential power relationships and bartering principles persevere throughout the cosmetic changes,” explains O’Brien. The cautionary tale documents two protagonists, one who promises riches to the other but is revealed to be more of a parasite. “Who is using who?” asks O’Brien. “I think it explores the often-simplified notion of privilege.”
With O’Brien making his music video-directorial debut, the video is a menacing straight-to-camera-shot which showcases the twisted narrative and people’s hidden faces. O’Brien says: “The video, much like the song, is a complicated, messy affair full of hellish landscapes and internal demons. It exists in a world conquered by irrational beings and emotional, selfish creatures. Corruption of the soul and disingenuous motivation are the order of the day, so I thought it best to serve with a side plate of the macabre and sinister.”
After the band-centred sessions of its predecessor Fever Dreams, That Golden Time’s solo-centric core was not forced on O’Brien by lockdown. “For me, That Golden Time has an internalised voice, so much so that I almost found it impossible to let anyone else in,” he says. “It’s probably the most vulnerable album I’ve made. I played and recorded everything in my apartment, and finally, towards the end, invited people in.” Aside from Dónal Lunny, the album features American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick on violin, David Tapley of Dublin band Tandem Felix on pedal steel guitar, and a group of players that O’Brien had first seen performing in a tribute to one of his great loves, Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who added soprano vocal, viola and cello.
Villagers Live
Monday 27th May - Ancienne Belgique, Belgium
Tuesday 28th May – Paradiso, Amsterdam
Wednesday 29th May - LantarenVenster, Rotterdam – sold out
Sunday 7th July – Down the Rabbit Hole Festival, Netherlands
Friday 2nd August – Dranouter Festival, Belgium
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