Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Back in the eighties, Wexford outfit Cry Before Dawn developed a reputation for their eclectic blend of driving guitar rock and traditional Irish pipes and whistles.

Fans have remained devoted through the years, long after the group originally split in 1992. They were rewarded with a compilation album in 2011, and occasional tours in Ireland and the UK.

Now, for the first time in decades, Cry Before Dawn are releasing a collection of new songs – spearheaded by new single Open Water, which was let out into the world at the start of the month.

Open Water is also the title of the band’s six-track EP, which is set for release on August 1. On the same night, they will play a launch event at Monroe’s in Galway – and it’s an emotional prospect.

“For the original four members of Cry Before Dawn, it’s 1989 since we released music – a proper vinyl record and CD at the time,” bass player Vinnie Doyle says.

“It’s a long time and it’s long overdue. We’ve been playing gigs since we reformed but a lot of people were always asking for new music. We’ve eventually gotten around to it and it’s exciting for us.”

The new single has a lot of the old properties that fans of Cry Before Dawn will have hoped for. It is a surreal thing to be writing together again after such a long interim. The band didn’t alter much in their approach, falling back into the same patterns and being conscious of the sound they wanted to recreate.

“If we, after a long time, are coming back with new music, you really want the people who have liked the band all down through the years to like the new stuff,” Doyle says.

“That is in your mind – you can’t get away from it. We said to ourselves, let’s just do music naturally as we did before and hopefully it’ll have the same atmosphere as the old Cry Before Dawn.

“Things have moved along in production and everything. We got in Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy – they’re Grammy nominated producers. They worked with us way back in 1988 so we felt they could maybe bring the atmosphere from then up to now, but in a modern context.”

“The track we went with for the first single – Open Water, which is also the name of the bigger record – we just felt it was maybe a link from the old stuff to what’s going to be the new stuff. We’re quite happy with the result and quite proud of it as well.”

Cry Before Dawn’s reformation in 2011 opened them up to crowds again, and they have savoured the subsequent gigs over the last 15 years in a way that a younger band can’t.

Pictured: Cry Before Dawn…new album and Galway gig.