Dublin duo's debut EP lands in the digital and physical realms
Persevering against the various forces ranged against them, TV People have delivered their eagerly awaited EP Nothing More which includes the brand new track Shallow Minds.
Having begun work on the EP back in March 2020, the five-track release documents a long period of challenges and hardships for TV People. As the mighty James put it 'swing from high to deep, extremes of sweet and sour'. Tipped as one to watch in 2021 by Irish tastemakers, like most others they wavered and started to lose their way as their usual haunts were shuttered against them.
Providing themselves with a purpose during a time when most felt lost, the Dublin newcomers candidly explore themes of disconnection, angst and existential anxiety whilst trying to inject optimism and hope into their sound (and themselves) in equal measure. Now signed to Blowtorch Records and with a vinyl release on the way, their upbeat outlook and hard work is being rewarded.
For Brendan & Paul, the EP is a testament to their ability to adapt and grow even in the most difficult of situations. From the angular attention to detail in the brooding, post-punk intensity of 2020 singles Nothing More and String through to the piercing gloom of latest singles Out of the Silence and Shallow Minds, TV People are a band learning from their own personal challenges, growing from their insecurities and maturing into a key component of Dublin’s acclaimed music scene.
“We have been working on this EP for the majority of the pandemic, and wrote and recorded four of the five tunes on it since March 2020.” explain the pair. “The last year has been really difficult for everyone in different ways, and we were really lucky to have this project to work on to give us a sense of purpose during that time.
"Because of lockdown, we had to write apart from each other at home. We started to put all of our ideas and WhatsApp recordings into demos that Bren mixed on Logic. Being able to listen back to the demos as we wrote them definitely helped us to refine our songwriting and improve our sense of progression in our music. We'd then meet up before recording to get a bit of organic energy into the tunes.
"A lot of the themes of disconnection and existential anxiety on the EP are obviously heavily influenced by the circumstances in which we wrote them, but the later songs have a bit more of a sense of hope and optimism for the future in them. It's an embodiment of the mental journey that we went through together over the last year while we were creating it.
"It's really important for us to have something tangible to show for the last year, and the EP is something for us to look back on which gives that time in our lives meaning.”
As with individual tracks, so with a band’s development – forward momentum is all. That TV People sound is there on Shallow Minds – Paul’s sonorous low end rumble contrasting with the barely tamed treble stabs of his Stratocaster; and a tour de force from Brendan on the drum stool. Yet there’s also progression from earlier tracks with nuanced tempo and loudness changes driving the track to its abrupt and satisfying conclusion.
The track explores the loss of a friend – channeling the frustration of watching someone close to you change to a point where you can no longer relate to them, and all feelings of sadness and anger become intertwined with the loss of connection.
They elaborate: "Some people's values can be performative, and they can get drawn to malicious and regressive movements due to their desire to belong to something or to go against everyone else for the sake of it. When that happens to someone you care about, you often can't see what's going on behind the scenes until it's too late to intervene and your only option is to cut your losses and move on.
"The song is about being at that point of no return with a friend, and laying all of your cards on the table to try and pull them back to you before you have to cut them out of your life for good."
The EP was recorded and produced by an all-star team including Dan Doherty at Darklands Audio (Fontaines D.C., Vulpynes), Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios (Radiohead, Blur, LCD Soundsystem) and Grammy award winning Caesar Edmunds (QOTSA, St. Vincent, PJ Harvey).
Pre-order Nothing More EP on red vinyl
Listen to Shallow Minds and the full EP on Spotify
Other reviews
TV People also feature on our second compilation vinyl
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