Altar primarily serves as a tribute to NewDad’s Ireland hometown, Galway, with its gloomy weather and quiet lifestyle. After the 2024 release of their debut studio album Madra resulting in their quick rise to popularity, the band promptly relocated to London to pursue music as a full time gig. NewDad saw an opportunity and knew they had to seize it. In hindsight, the band now regrets this sudden and drastic change in scenery, stating in an interview with NME how they would have enjoyed staying home and focusing on enriching their local rock scene. Altar is a simultaneous homage to Ireland and an expression of homesickness and nostalgia, all over the span of 12 tracks. 

NewDad’s Madra took alternative rock by storm with its explosive sound and unapologetic lyrics. The band was influenced by artists like The Pixies, The Cranberries, and Oasis, which shaped lead singer and rhythm guitarist Julie Dawson’s childhood. Altar is showing a departure from the heavier punk inspiration, instead borrowing elements from shoegaze and dream-pop, with most of the tracks more reminiscent powerful ballads seeping with raw emotion. It’s an interesting direction for the band to take their sound in, and it also bodes well with the themes of melancholy and reflection. 

From the very first track “Other Side”, the lyrics already express these deep emotions that permeate the album, as Julie Dawson sings about a noisy place that is killing her dreams and not letting her go. Accompanying Dawson’s soft melodies are simple synths, reminiscent of a lullaby, that build up to a thrilling beat drop with lead guitarist Sean O’Dowd and drummer Fiachra Parslow joining in. The song masterfully sets the tone for the rest of the record. “Heavyweight” maintains a steadier tempo while Dawson scornfully croons about the music industry, which drove the band away from home and thrust them into that harsh reality very early into their career, dripping with cynicism. 

The next track “Pretty” is a dreamy and melodic serenade that really hones in on Galway as the band’s muse: “His medicine has me hypnotized. You look so nice like a dream, swear on my life”. In the following track “Roobosh”, perhaps the most electric song on the album, Dawson’s booming vocal performance during the chorus is perfectly accompanied by her and O’Dowd’s hypnotizing guitar riffs. Parslow’s drumming is also on point, which, along with the other elements, emphasize the track’s vindictive and vitriolic energy. 

“Misery” offers a darker, meaner atmosphere with distorted, grungy guitars and a loaded instrumental. Dawson’s vocals demonstrate pure, raw emotion from someone who is deeply familiar with misery and the nasty way she makes her way into our lives. “Sinking King of Feeling” and “Puzzle” are both tracks that expand on the homesickness of the album, exploring somber feelings of misplacement, unworthiness, and inadequacy. The ballads, with soft, luscious sounds offer evocative imagery and highlight the melancholy that permeates the record. Sounds start to blend together and perhaps the band tried to become a little too cohesive. However, the instrumentation is consistently easy on the ears, despite the air of monotony. 

“Entertainer” is reminiscent of “Sickly Sweet” from the band’s debut album with the guitar riffs. The beat and instrumentation, as well as Dawson’s wildly entertaining vocals illustrate NewDad’s signature sound. “Everything I Wanted” perfectly encapsulates the album’s main thesis of homesickness. After their experience abroad, NewDad realized they had fallen into the trap of jumping ship too early and yearned for their hometown, which they now know could have harbored their dream. The layered soundscape cushions Dawson’s vocals as she introspectively warbles: “I tell myself that it’s everything I wanted/ Lost myself in this city”. The following two tracks “Mr Cold Embrace” and “Vertigo” are also about Galway which, to the band, evokes nostalgia and regret, with airy guitars and hauntingly beautiful vocals. The album ends on a somber note with “Something’s Broken”, as Dawson sings of feeling terrible sadness and fear and looking for intimacy as a way to cope and forget it all. 

Overall, Altar is a beautifully cohesive journey through Galway, the band’s bittersweet relationship with fame, the harshness of the music industry and everything in between. It’s a wonderful album to enjoy as the seasons transition from summer into autumn, with delicate guitars and catchy melodies that solidify the band as one of the best current alternative rock artists. Now, with their new tour around Europe and their freshly announced festival appearance at Primavera Sound ‘26, I’m excited to see what’s next for NewDad. 

The post NewDad on homesickness, fame and sacrifice in their latest album: Altar appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Bonded with an old man buying sunscreen today at work over being Irish and pale. Didn’t have the heart to tell him I’m not Irish, just pale.

— Alison Schwebach (@alisonschwebach) May 17, 2016

Even before I was of the age to partake in the green beer and other green-themed festivities, St. Patrick’s Day was always just a fun, random holiday that helped break up the dreariness of March and meant spring was coming soon. So in honor of St. Pat and the Irish, I decided this month to make Irish soda bread.

If you’ve never had it, I highly recommend trying some. My mom used to have our grandparents over for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner a couple years in a row (again, our family is not Irish AT ALL so I don’t really know why), and although I would not touch the corned beef and cabbage, I always ate SO MUCH Irish soda bread. I didn’t have time to get the recipe my mom used before I had to do this thing, so I found a recipe from Ina Garten. Because I trust her.

Time started: 8:00 pm

What I’m drinking: I decided to go all out on the St. Patrick’s theme so I picked up some Guinness and had one before starting as well as another midway through. I also drank my favorite Black Velvet whiskey, of course, because what is more Irish than Canadian whiskey, am I right??

Estimated difficulty: 3/5

This didn’t seem too difficult, but Ina said I needed to use a mixer to properly incorporate the butter into the flour and I do not have a mixer.

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): The no mixer did turn out to be a bit of a challenge, but wasn’t as awful as I was expecting. I ended up having to mash the cold butter into the flour with a potato masher because I also do not have a pastry cutter. Its fine, it pretty much worked. However what was NOT FINE was me dropping the orange into the buttermilk mixture because I was using my hands to talk too aggressively while I talked to my sister.

Time finished: 10:00 PM (it honestly didn’t take that long to mix together, the baking time was just super long.)

Results:

My drunk opinion:  “This is some good Irish soda bread. I am happy.”

Mollie’s opinion: “You actually didn’t do bad.” (Rude.) “It’s good, good job. I am thoroughly impressed.” (Still rude???)

My sober morning opinion: I can’t tell if it is slightly undercooked or just a really moist recipe. Either way, it is delicious.

Final deliciousness rating: 9/10

I would probably make this again, however it didn’t really keep very well after a couple days so eat it quickly if you decide to make it! Here is the recipe if you wanted to try it for your own St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Stop by next month to see what else I manage to throw an orange at or something.

Previous Episodes:

Episode 1: Orange Chili Brownies

Episode 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Episode 3: (Almost) Vegan Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Episode 4: Peppermint  & White Chocolate Brownies

Episode 5: Vegan Coconut Lime Cake

Episode 6: Berry Tart

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