Belfast singer-songwriter Gareth Dunlop released the title track of his upcoming album Animal (out April 22) alongside a stunning, surreal video. “Animal” was inspired by the artist’s internal monologue about hangups and oddities in songwriting. Dunlop explains: “A great piece of advice I once received was to ‘write like no-one will ever hear it.’ It tricks my brain into being more honest with myself than I normally would.”
In the video, Dunlop walks among his furniture – sofas, beds & fireplaces – scattered in a secluded mountain top forest (to the utter confusion of a passerby walking his dog, the crew reports). “Animal” music video director Jamie Neish explains: “The song carried a paradoxical quality to it but also had something that felt inherently tribalistic to me and I guess there was a marriage of all those things to finish the storyboard. The physical scenario was bizarre, bringing living room and bedroom setups into the forest – but it’s a rare chance to make something unusual seem usual, even if it’s just for a few minutes.”
Watch / Listen: “Animal”
Gareth Dunlop recorded Animal in his own Sycamore Studios just prior to lockdown, where he also produced new records by friends and fellow Northern Irish musicians Foy Vance (Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records) and Lee Rogers. All three artists will soon be on tour together this spring, with Dunlop on additional duty as a member of Vance’s live band (tickets here). He’s previously toured with Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Snow Patrol & Stereophonics. Animal was mixed by Gareth’s frequent collaborator Alastair McMillan, who had also recorded Dunlop’s first studio sessions at Dublin’s esteemed Windmill Lane and has engineered for U2, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.
Tipped as “one to watch” by BBC, Dunlop has released a handful of EPs and one album that have been musically eclectic yet have all showcased his highly soulful voice, with several of his songs going on to be used in the hit TV series Nashville, other shows (Lucifer, This Is U, Bones, Suits), movies (The Best Of Me, Safe Haven) and commercials (Disney, Subaru). He also has songwriting credits for recordings by a diverse range of stars that include T.I., Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and John Oates, who called him “the real deal.”
Inspired by icons such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits, plus a soupçon of Pink Floyd, Dunlop picked up a guitar aged 14 and soon began performing covers and original songs in live venues around Northern Ireland, RoI and the rest of the UK. In 2011, he won a Young Songwriter of the Year award in Belfast that not only earned him an invite to collaborate with seasoned writers in Nashville, an experience he has repeated many times since, but it also enabled him to tour the US extensively.
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US TOUR DATES WITH FOY VANCE
May 6 @ Levon Helm Studios – Woodstock, NY
May 7 @ Levon Helm Studios – Woodstock, NY
May 8 @ Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
May 10 @ Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
May 11 @ Webster Hall – New York, NY
May 13 @ Royale – Boston, MA
May 14 @ Center for the Arts – Homer, NY
May 17 @ Memorial Hall – Cincinnati, OH
May 18 @ James K. Polk Theater, Tennessee Performing Arts Center – Nashville, TN
May 20 @ The Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, MN
May 21 @ Athenaeum Theatre – Chicago, IL
May 26 @ Neptune Theatre – Seattle, WA
May 27 @ Aladdin Theater – Portland, OR
May 31 @ Regent Theater – Los Angeles, CA
