Villagers – Live at the Iveagh Gardens

Villagers – Live at the Iveagh Gardens with special guest Aldous Harding.

Villagers' acclaimed new album The Art of Pretending to Swim, released in September was written, produced, mixed and primarily performed by Conor O'Brien in his Dublin studio. Following the exquisitely sparse, intimate aura of 2015's Darling Arithmetic, Conor O'Brien's new record reconnects with the multi-faceted approach of the 2010 album debut Becoming A Jackal and 2013's Awayland while adding a new-found soulfulness, rhythmic nous and dazzling panoply of sonic detail, both analogue and digital, creating feverish moods while writing effortlessly accessible tunes. Balanced with subtle aspects and lyrical themes that embrace existential fears and hopes in this desperate, technologically-centred dystopian age, The Art Of Pretending To Swim is their most brilliantly realised album to date.

O'Brien has a string of accolades under his belt including two Ivor Novello Awards (the most recent being 2016's Album Award for Darling Arithmetic), two Mercury Music Prize nominations and is also a previous winner of Ireland's Choice Music Prize. Additionally, their music recently featured in the high profile HBO drama Big Little Lies. Conor has collaborated with the composer Nico Muhly (that track featuring in the recent Paulo Sorrentino Berlusconi biopic Loro 2) and Villagers' Spotify session of Nothing Arrived has hit over 120 million streams.

This date will be New Zealand artist Aldous Harding's debut Irish performance. Best Kept Secret Aldous Harding is finishing her third studio album. Igniting interest with her eponymous debut album released just two years ago, Aldous Harding quickly become a name murmured on many lips, known for her charismatic combination of talent, tenacity and shrewd wit. The album drew attention and accolades from some of the most illustrious corners of the music industry, receiving 4 stars in MOJO and Uncut, while UK blog The 405 hailed her as a “toweringly talented song writer”.