BALLYDEHOB’S Molly O’Mahony has released her much anticipated debut album The House of David.
The pandemic gave rise to an opportunity, when Molly returned to her home place of Ballydehob after a decade of living in Dublin, with ‘nothing but time, a guitar, and a broken heart.’
The House of David is the product of her two years under lockdown, during which time she wrote, honed, and recorded the songs which tell the turbulent story of her twenties; a journey through living, loving, failing and creating in the city that made her the artist she is.
Sound boarded against the musical ears of her siblings, Matilda and Fiachra, and utilising their complimentary voices to sit alongside hers, the arrangements were carved out with vocals at the fore. The rest of the textures came when it was time to record the album properly in the summer of 2021, with producer Alex Borwick at the helm, and musicians Shay Sweeney and Ailbhe Dunne, chosen to fill out the rhythm section. The tracks were recorded in a concentrated haze of musical alchemy at Black Mountain Studios, Dundalk, over the course of just a week.
Finally, after a big crowd-funding effort and a timely bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland, the album was made manifest.
‘This album spans a decade of my life in song. It is a journey from innocence to experience; through all the awkward, lovelorn, shape-shifting I’ve undergone throughout my twenties,’ said Molly.
‘It is a monument to love, lessons and growth, and to the house of David, which has been my sanctuary through so much. Just as it has provided me with the infrastructure to live and create, my words and music are what I have to give back in honour of it now. This record is my humble offering in gratitude for all it has been to me and all it has seen me through,’ she added.
Molly has released three singles from the record so far – Remember to Be Brave, Brother Blue and Her Song and the album is available on Bandcamp.
She’ll perform in Levis, Ballydehob on Nov 26th (sold out) and 27th.
