IN THE late-noughties, many believed the album as way of presenting music was dead and that digital media would see everything reduced to individual tracks. Fast forward to 2014 and instead of abandoning the album, artists are using digital media as a new way to present and re-imagine the album format. This and the corresponding resurrection of vinyl means the album has plenty of life in it yet.
An Irish artist embodying this phenomenon is Declan O’Rourke who is releasing his fourth album Howlin Lowly Moons in a new way.
In October, the Dublin singer-songwriter, who has strong south Galway connections, digitally released ‘Woncha’, the first of 12 tracks from Howlin Lowly Moons. Subscribers to Declan’s newsletter got the first listen, receiving a free download link. Last month the track became available on iTunes.
The idea is to release the complete album over a 12-month period, one song a month, completely free to those signed up to the artist’s eNewsletter. This will then pave the way for the album to be released physically.
Declan will perform songs from this album, as well as from Since Kyabram, Big Bad Beautiful World, and Mag Pie Zi when he plays the Róisín Dubh this Saturday at 8pm as part of his current Irish tour.
Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Róisín Dubh.
