After the sharing of new song ‘Emptiness Follows’ and the news that the US label that is releasing Fontaines D.C. and Just Mustard, Partisan Records, has signed Aoife Nessa Frances to their roster, the Irish artist has announced her second album Protector is out on October 28th on the label.
‘Way To Say Goodbye’ also arrives to coincide with the news, which Frances says is “a song about endings and a new beginning,” saying it “reflects the feelings when a relationship ends, the difficulty of letting something go. How fear of loneliness can make you hold on to something for too long after it no longer serves you. The process of writing this song was incredibly cathartic and healing.”
A video by directed by Ellius Grace portraying the journey of two men, one man being carried by another, as they traverse a lush meadow.
“This video is an allegory, a physical journey which embodies the emotional ones that many of us have experienced in our lives. This story is about realising when someone you love needs to find their own path, no matter how much you want to help them get there.”
Ellius Grace
Some Irish live dates are also announced:
23 NOV 2022 / NI / Belfast / Ulster Sports Club
24 NOV 2022 / IE / Dublin / Whelans
25 NOV 2022 / IE / Limerick / Dolans, Upstairs
26 NOV 2022 / IE / Galway / Roisin Dubh
27 NOV 2022 / IE / Cork / Quiet Lights, Coughlans Bar
About Protector
Protector was born in the spring of 2020, when Aoife packed up her things in Dublin and moved to rural County Clare on the west coast of Ireland. It was there, amidst the stillness, that she began to work on the songs that would become her second album: a personal, mystical journey of self-discovery through dislocation, transformation, and restoration. Recording took place in a small house in County Kerry, at the foothills of the Annascaul, with Brendan Jenkinson (producer, keys, bass, synth, clarinet), Brendan Doherty (drums), Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh (string arrangements) and Conor O’Brien (horn arrangements). The resulting body of work deftly juxtaposes golden hours and arguments, affection and alienation, and above all marks a crucial period of her life that was transformative and left her wiser.
In Aoife‘s own words: “Writing and recording this album was a spiritual experience. I experienced love for my family on a level I didn’t know existed, while slowly putting myself back together and watching the “protector” in me grow much bigger. Protector acknowledges the part of myself that steers me towards a brighter path.”
After performing at a couple of festivals this summer in Ireland and United Kingdom, Frances will be supporting Destroyer on tour this fall across Europe and the UK before embarking on her headlining European tour and co-headlining North American tour with Indigo Sparke this November and December.
Protector tracklisting:
- Way To Say Goodbye
- This Still Life
- Emptiness Follows
- Chariot
- Back To Earth
- Only Child
- Soft Lines
- Day Out Of Time
Pre-order / pre-save album HERE
AOIFE NESSA FRANCIS live dates:
30 JULY 2022 / UK / Kendal / Kendal Calling
On tour with DESTROYER:
21 SEP 2022 / NL / Amsterdam / Paradiso
23 SEP 2022 / SE / Lund / Mejeriet
24 SEP 2022 / SE / Stockholm / Slaktkyrkan
25 SEP 2022 / NO / Oslo / Bla
26 SEP 2022 / DK / Copenhagen / Vega
29 SEP 2022 / DE / Berlin / Lido
30 SEP 2022 / DE / Cologne / Gebaude9
1 OCT 2022 / CH / Zurich / Rote Fabrik
2 OCT 2022 / CH / Lucerne / Subpol
5 OCT 2022 / DE / Schorndorf / Manufaktur
6 OCT 2022 / FR / Metz / Les Trinitaires
7 OCT 2022 / FR / Paris / Petit Bain
8 OCT 2022 / BE / Ghent / C Mine
9 OCT 2022 / BE / Antwerp / Trix
Headline UK, EUROPE & IRELAND tour
01 NOV 2022 / UK / Leeds / Brudenell Social Club
02 NOV 2022 / UK / Manchester / Castle Hotel
03 NOV 2022 / UK / Glasgow / Nice n Sleazy
04 NOV 2022 / UK / Todmorden / Golden Lion
05 NOV 2022 / UK / Nottingham / Rough Trade
06 NOV 2022 / UK / Bristol / Rough Trade
08 NOV 2022 / UK / London / Moth Club
09 NOV 2022 / UK / Brighton / Prince Albert
11 NOV 2022 / BE / Brussels / Botanique
12 NOV 2022 / BE / Kortrijk / Sonic City
15 NOV 2022 / FR / Limoges / Le Phare
16 NOV 2022 / FR / Paris / Les Femmes s’en Mêlent Festival
17 NOV 2022 / DE / Cologne / Blue Shell
18 NOV 2022 / DE / Hamburg / Molotow
19 NOV 2022 / DE / Berlin / Prachtwerk
20 NOV 2022 / CH / Düdingen / Bad Bonn
21 NOV 2022 / IT / Milan / ARCI BELLEZZA
23 NOV 2022 / NI / Belfast / Ulster Sports Club
24 NOV 2022 / IE / Dublin / Whelans
25 NOV 2022 / IE / Limerick / Dolans, Upstairs
26 NOV 2022 / IE / Galway / Roisin Dubh
27 NOV 2022 / IE / Cork / Quiet Lights, Coughlans Bar
on tour with INDIGO SPARKE:
29 NOV 2022 / US / Washington, DC / Songbyrd
30 NOV 2022 / US / Philadelphia, PA / Johnny Brenda’s
1 DEC 2022 / US / Brooklyn, NY / Union Pool
2 DEC 2022 / US / Boston, MA / Middle East Club (Upstairs)
3 DEC 2022 / CAN / Montreal, QC / Bar Le Ritz
5 DEC 2022 / CAN / Toronto, ON / The Drake
7 DEC 2022 / US / Chicago, IL / The Hideout
9 DEC 2022 / US / Seattle, WA / The Sunset
11 DEC 2022 / US / Portland, OR / Mississippi Studios
13 DEC 2022 / US / San Francisco, CA / Bottom of The Hill
14 DEC 2022 / US / Los Angeles, CA / Gold Diggers
