Emerging alt-folk artist Ailbhe Reddy shares the touching new track “Looking Happy”, the most recent single from the debut album ‘Personal History’, due for release on October 2nd via Street Mission Records.
Ailbhe Reddy says explains the single: “The song is about watching someone’s life from afar after the breakup. We should all know by now that what people present online is a brilliant and happy version of events, but it is sometimes impossible to have that logic when you are suffering. Most people probably end up visiting an ex’s online profile and feel that their life is full of parties and fun days because that is all that people show of their life online. ”
Having attracted widespread acclaim across the community of critics (Consequence of Sound, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, Wonderland), a major highlight on all BBC 6 Music radio waves (UK, Lauren Laverne) and making a presence in places Renowned as Glastonbury, Primavera, and Latitude, Ailbhe’s profile is certainly on the rise and her first long run comes at just the right time.
Ailbhe Reddy’s debut album is an intimate and introspective collection of songs that ruminate on the rites of passage of a young, emerging and queer artist from Dublin.
In Personal History, Ailbhe’s ability to write songs of sincere and honest self-evaluation sees her autobiographically navigate the end of relationships in the age of social media (“Looking Happy”), reflect on the duality between loneliness and independence during their tours (“Time Difference”), and to reveal their sexual orientation (“Between Your Teeth” and “Loyal”).
Having taken a break from music to study psychotherapy for a year while recording her album, there is a feeling that Ailbhe applies a new understanding and empathy to the perspectives and problems of those around her, in addition to indirectly analyzing the problems of her life.
The stimulating “Self Improvement” gives rise to a dialogue about the difficulties in dealing with mental health, while other songs more accurately dissect issues such as learning to live with failure (“Late Bloomer”) and facing fears of commitment (“Failing “and” Walk Away”).
Reflecting on the impact that psychotherapy had on his compositions, Ailbhe says:
“I spent a year studying psychotherapy before I started writing this album and I realized, while recording it, that it subconsciously included several clinical terms in my lyrics. Words like ego, true intimacy, personal history and self-improvement. The themes about understanding my fear and dependence on relationships with others, my frustration with myself, my path of self-acceptance. The set of songs that I decided to put together on this album are all linked to my desire, as a composer, to understand myself and to understand those around me. Writing is being understood, music is therapy.”
