Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

It is coming up on four years since Galway singer/songwriter Dave Clancy released his debut album, The Path. A sweet and melodic folk record, it featured collaborations from the likes of Pauline Scanlon, Matthew Berrill and all three members of the Whileaways. The cast has now reunited for a follow-up record, due for release next year.

The first taste of that album, though, has already arrived. Keep the Dark at Bay is Dave’s first single since 2022, and it represents a gentle reintroduction to his work.

“It’s probably the most folky sounding song of the next batch that are coming,” Dave says.

“The next couple of songs are a bit more complex in their arrangements and stuff like that. I thought it was a song that might land with people. It’s quite broad thematically. It’s about a lot of people. It’s about people who might be artistic in nature but don’t get to really express it because life gets in the way. It’s just about that kind of person, of which I know a few.”

A second single, Take Your Time, is set for October. The collaborations on this record and The Path mainly stem from another project, Bird on the Wire, with whom Dave performs the music of Leonard Cohen.

“The next one will have bass and drums in it,” he says. “It’s a bit more orchestral. There are layered strings in it and Nicola Joyce from the Whileaways is singing backing vocals on it. It’s just a bigger sound I suppose.

“It’s a lot of the same people. And some new people as well that I met along the way. I play with the Whileaways and Pauline Scanlon in a project called Bird on the Wire. We just interpret Leonard Cohen songs. A lot of the songs are led by women. I met a lot of musicians in that and ended up pulling them into my own thing.”

Pictured: Dave Clancy…second album on the way.