More about: Pillow Queens

Where do we go when all we’ve got is ourselves? That’s the question the sophomore album from Irish rock four-piece Pillow Queens attempts to answer across it’s 44-minute run-time; and through a concoction of stadium-ready choruses, shrieking guitars and heavenly vocal arrangement it does so with aplomb.

Consisting of vocalists Sarah Corcoran and Pamela Connolly, as well as lead guitarist Cathy McGuiness and drummer Rachel Lyons, Pillow Queens first came together following the breakdown of member's previous bands. Determined to hit the ground running, the band released their debut project Calm Girl in December of the same year. The three-track project, whose name was a play on the bands shared anxiety, featured the lead single ‘Rats’ which took off on local Irish radio and made them Ireland’s indie-rock prospects overnight, to the extent that their very first live performance (as part of a fundraiser for rescue dogs) sold out. 

They followed up Calm Girls with State of The State in 2018. From there, they supported bands such as Future Island, IDLES, Pussy Riot and American Football in venues across Ireland’s capital; all the while putting the finishing touches on their debut album. In September of 2020, the world was treated to the arrival of In Waiting, a gorgeous reflection on Dublin life with all of its peaks and troughs thrown in for good measure. With tracks such as ‘Donaghmede’, ‘Handsome Wife’ and the powerful ‘Brothers’, it encapsulated a band on the crest of a wave, riding high on adrenaline as they dreamt of taking the show on the road.

Unfortunately, life had other plans and despite performing on US TV from their Dublin studio, the decision was quickly made to look to the future and, while the time was available to them, they set to work on In Waiting’s follow-up. Two years on, it’s finally arrived, and with it confirmation of what we already knew. Pillow Queens are a band for the ages.

Recorded over a month in Attica Audio studio in Donegal, Leave The Light On is a breathless reflection on a time filled with loneliness, as the most we shared was a calming glance. The joy and broadness of In Waiting is counteracted heavily by broading bass and sharp, distorted guitar lines. Leave The Light On explores emotion and depth in a way previously unheard by the band. On tracks such as ‘Delivered’, ‘Historian’ and ‘The House That Sailed Away’, Connolly’s floating vocals are perfectly suited to the booming choruses, as lyrics touch on everything from religion, to relationship breakdowns and new beginnings. 

The band have a brilliant capacity to distill the complex into the sublime, and with lines as cutting as "tighter than a wedding band", it’s no wonder they’ve garnered so many admirers. There’s no easy skips, as each track flows gracefully into the next, each with its own unique sense of motion and mystique. The supporting choral vocal arrangement throughout is inspired, and it’s brief use, whenever it pops up throughout the tracklist, is  perfectly suited to all that surrounds it. At times tender, at others tough; tracks bleed from one song to the next, each leaving an indelible mark as they pass. 

Leave The Light On is a tapestry of temperament, a mosaic of ruminations. It explores innermost feelings as its predecessor explored Dublin streets. If In Waiting is a band finding its feet, Leave The Light On is one ripping up the floorboards and digging for the core; grappling not only with is done and how it feels but with why we hope, where our dreams go, and where to turn when it all falls down. 

As the album hits stores in Dublin, Pillow Queen will be preparing to step onstage at Salt Lake City, on a US trip which has already seen them play SXSW and return to Corden in-person. Ireland’s secret no more, Pillow Queens are there for the world to enjoy. 

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More about: Pillow Queens