TPOE 160: Autre Monde

Dublin-based band Autre Monde release their debut album The Imaginary Museum on Strange Brew Records this Friday, February 28. After playing together and with each other in various bands under the Popical Island collective, the foursome - Paddy Hanna (vocals), Padraig Cooney (bass, synth, vocals), Mark Chester (guitar) and Eoghan O’Brien (drums, synth, backing vocals) - got together and had their first rehearsal on the last day of the Popical Island space, the Pop Inn. After a couple of singles and EPs since 2017, they finally release this brilliant debut album, recorded with Daniel Fox (Girl Band) and which was done with the organising principle of making a record “by a band who were playing esoteric post-punk in 1979 but who are now transplanted to 1986 where a hit is demanded”. Over a 50-minute chat in their hostel room at Kinlay House after a show at Quarter Block Party early in February, Autre Monde talk about band injuries, how they got together, Popical Island, 'bockety' music, Strange Brew, and lots more. Press release: Autre Monde emerged from the ashes of the Popical Island collective as its headquarters fell victim to the city’s relentless purge of cultural spaces in 2017. Indeed, the first Autre Monde rehearsal was on the last day of the Pop Inn’s existence as a venue/rehearsal/recording space on Little Britain Street. They quickly gained attention for their early singles and stirring live performances, with The Thin Air insisting they were “one of the very best bands in the country”. The Irish Times noted that Autre Monde were “mining Television, ESG, Suicide and the The Slits”, and that’s about right. A murky, exploratory self-titled EP followed (with 8-minute Can via Pentangle-channelling highlight 'Your Name' still a favourite in live sets) before the band set out to make "The Imaginary Museum" in summer 2018. They signed to Strange Brew in 2019 in time to release the first fruits of those sessions. The first single from The Imaginary Museum, Fever in May, was used in an Audi ad in late 2019. They have been invited to play at the 2020 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.