There comes a point when every band finds themselves in a new place on the horizon. The precocious snarls of youth gone, the invincibility of being new � and Pillow Queens have been one of the most acclaimed new bands in recent years - now replaced by something else. A feeling of being unburdened and unafraid, of dropping the ballast of what other people might think. This is not to suggest a band who have softened, or rejected the music that made their name, if anything the new material places them in another realm, open to seriousness and vulnerability. The band�s timeline runs parallel to huge social and cultural change in Ireland, and queerness and Irish identity have always underpinned the songs. There hadn�t, in short, been a band quite like them before in Ireland.�
An unlikely touchstone for this record was �Atlantis�, a poem by Irish poet Eavan Boland. Amid a swell of language, the poet searches for a specific word; �to convey that what is gone is gone forever and never found.� This quest defines the intense experiences that run through this extraordinary album. It�s there in each pocket of heartbreak, every hazy chorus of loss. The songs are a map of hurt and longing, of second-guessing and desire, the title of the record - Name Your Sorrow � is based on a line from the poem. The band believe it�s a more �blatant� album emotionally; not that they haven�t been this truthful before. But there was always metaphor to fall back on, oscillations of noise to hide behind. Name Your Sorrow is a more exposed record: no masks, no obliqueness, just a raw, open landscape of feeling. �You don�t have to scratch the surface too much to see what these songs are about�, offers Pamela Connolly. Sarah Corcoran likens it to physical experiences that are painful up to a point, but then �you get used to the pain and it has a positive inward effect.� �
After forming in 2016, the band released a series of singles, honing their craft and working towards their first album, In Waiting (2020). Along the way there has been acclaim from UK and American press, many sold-out gigs and an appearance on James Corden�s US TV show. After signing with Canada�s Royal Mountain Records, they released a follow-up album, Leave the Light On in 2022, touring the UK, US and Europe extensively, including shows at Austin�s SXSW and supporting Phoebe Bridgers in Glasgow.
