somebody’s child - when youth fades away - frenchkiss

Somebody’s Child are attempting to carve their place in modern rock music, with a massive jump in maturity and new sonic perspective in upcoming second album When Youth Fades Away.

2023 saw the release of their self-titled debut album (which featured the live favourites “Broken Record”, “I Need Ya” and “We Could Start a War”) which served the dual purpose of putting the young Dubliners on the map and - in a creative sense - closing the chapter on the band’s formative years.

2024 so far has been anything but quiet, seeing the band open for The War on Drugs, Bloc Party and Kings of Leon at BST Hyde Park, following on from a sold out night at London’s Heaven to mark the end of the Somebody’s Child campaign. Appearances in their native Ireland have included the bucket list moment of headlining the 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin and playing on the Main Stage at the country’s biggest festival, Electric Picnic.

As Somebody’s Child enter the next chapter of their artistic lives together, they are searching for a freedom of expression in their work; one free from the normalcy of indie tropes. A disillusionment with modern music and lazy comparisons accelerated a need for change within the band. An unlikely influence for WYFA was found in German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, whose use of technology became a north star for the band. Their mission statement was a firm one: shut out all the noise in a genuine attempt at tapping into the unknown.

It is said part of the slow and often painful process of discovering yourself as an artist is dealing with the sensations and realities of getting older, not simply in a physical sense, but in a creative sense. The new album realises a new perspective on life. Somebody’s Child don’t wish to mourn the fading of youth but embrace it as an inevitability.

Says frontman Cian Godfrey: “If our first album was running away, this album is about staying put and reflecting. We're letting people in and letting ourselves out.”

Time spent recording in the USA with Grammy Award-winning producer, Peter Katis (The National, Gang of Youths, Interpol), allotted the band ample time to immerse themselves in a heightened creative environment, sleeping only one flight of stairs away from Katis’ studio.

Commenting on the writing process, Godfrey explains: “We only listened to a handful of artists for months leading into album writing sessions. In doing so, we closed in on ourselves in the process.”

This resulted in the recording process feeling like a release of the creative valve, spending their days locked in a flow state of sonic experimentation and untethered collaboration with one another. The surrounding mundanity of suburban Connecticut served them greatly, allowing them to become lost in their work, while also removing them from their visual, sensory, and cultural comfort zone.

The result is a body of work which is markedly a step up from what’s come before - songs like the LP’s title track flirt with a synth-driven sound not heard previously and album opener The Kid, at 5:33, is perhaps the band’s most ambitious sonic outing to date. Elsewhere, Last Night I Held Your Hand (debuted live in late 2023) and Life Will Go On are trademark SC, albeit one a little older and wiser. First single, the startling Time of my Life, is an autobiographical piece that sets out their new stall with a fiery intent. The record features additional keyboard instrumentation by The Gloaming member Thomas Bartlett (Doveman).

When asked what Somebody’s Child represents at this moment in time, Godfrey states “There is no Somebody's Child - it's just a figment of our imaginations allowing us to process our lives”