‘Ribbon Factory’ is the Dublin six-piece’s first new song since their debut EP, recorded in New York with Loren Humphrey, out now via Island Records.
Madra Salach have shared new single ‘Ribbon Factory’, out now via Island Records, their first new material since January’s debut EP It’s a Hell of an Age.
Anyone who’s caught the band live over the past year will already know this one, it’s been a setlist regular for months, and that stage-honed energy carries straight into the studio version. Frontman Paul Banks says:
“Ribbon Factory is a song we’ve been particularly excited to share. It feels like a stepping stone for us into more lively and punky arrangements. We’ve been playing it live for over a year and that’s really influenced the recording. It’s a uniquely Irish song and is wrought with anger and despair.”
It was recorded in New York with producer Loren Humphrey, who’s also worked recently with Westside Cowboy, Geese and Cameron Winter.
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It’s been a genuinely relentless year for the band. Since making their mark on the Irish festival circuit, they’ve carried that into the UK and Europe with sets at The Great Escape, End of the Road, Primavera, Latitude, Roskilde and Green Man, before coming home for stage-filling slots at Beyond The Pale and Electric Picnic. They’re currently partway through a sold-out UK headline tour, including two nights each at London’s Electric Ballroom and Manchester’s New Century Hall, plus dates in Liverpool, Cardiff, Sheffield, Glasgow and Nottingham, following a run of sold-out shows in New York. The year wraps with an eight-date sold-out Irish tour, including a headline show at Vicar Street and two nights at Cork’s Cyprus Avenue.
It caps a run that’s also seen the band’s manager, Erin Barker, named as the first recipient of The Trevor Dietz Management Bursary, a sign of just how quickly Madra Salach have gone from a breakout IMW act to one of the most closely watched bands in Irish music.
It’s a Hell of an Age reached number three on the Irish Albums Chart and the top 10 of the UK Official Independent Albums Chart, with both ‘The Man Who Seeks Pleasure’ and ‘Blue & Gold’ picking up BBC 6 Music playlist support, alongside a Maida Vale session. The band are also set to feature on the upcoming Songs of Shane MacGowan album. The band recently did NPR’s World Cafe in Windmill Studios.
‘Ribbon Factory’ is out now via Island Records.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
