The Art of Pretending to Swim, released on September 21st, 2018, is one of the best albums to be released in Ireland last year. In April 2009, sandwiched between Lisa Hannigan and Róisín Murphy, the Irish Times had Villagers down as one of the 50 Irish bands who would soon make it big. Home prideO’Brien’s success as Villagers wasn’t just home pride. However, it reached the number one position in the Irish music charts, sitting ahead of the Les Miserables soundtrack, Ed Sheeran’s +, Emeli Sande’s Our Version of Events and Rihanna’s Unapologetic. One month before the 2015 marriage referendum in Ireland, O’Brien released Darling Arithmetic, an album that delves even deeper into his personal experiences as a gay man.

Source: The Irish Times January 05, 2019 05:01 UTC