Ahead of their headline gig at The Underworld tomorrow night, we like to shine a light on Belfast’s Enola Gay.
Formed in late 2019 the noise punk outfit is comprised of Fionn Reilly (vocals), Joe McVeigh (guitar), Adam Cooper (bass) and Luke Beirne (drums).
After releasing their acclaimed debut EP 'Gransha' in 2021, they went on a sold out 32-date UK Tour, before supporting Therapy? on their arena tour. NME quoted them being "one of the most-booked new acts for European festivals" making them the most-booked New-Irish band of 2022.
They combine venomous hip-hop-inspired vocals, layered on a rhythm section that draws as much from left-field electronica and techno as it does from post-punk heroes of the late 70s.
Enola’s new EP 'Casement' was produced by Johnny Hostile (Savages) and electronic producer Mount Paloma. Hostile is best known for his production on both Mercury Prize-nominated Savages albums and Mount Palomar, aka Neil Kerr, a Berghain veteran, who collaborated on lead single 'Terra Firma'.
After having heard a few of Fionn’s folk musings, Neil suggested to use one of Fionn’s stripped back acoustic tracks as the basis for a new two part song that would shift from irish folk to abstract shoegaze electronica.
Band Quote:
"There's a case to be made that Irish folk is punk music in its purest form, songs for and by the underdogs of society. Feeling like it was the right time to expand and broaden our sound, we wanted to offer something unexpected and unheard and so turned to our good friend and in some ways mentor Neil Kerr, Mount Palomar. Keen to tap into our love of experimental electronics and production, we let Neil take the reins and use one of Fionn’s folk tracks as the basis for what became a two part abstract folk inspired electronic track unlike anything we had heard before.
Terra in its original form may never have become an Enola track but reworked as an interlude and incorporated into a brand new track that pulled and stretched the folk ideas into a new, exciting sonic territory, terra firma was born.
This track signals a shift in our dynamic, a new emboldened desire to carve out our own path and to continue to push ourselves sonically and lyrically to places that our audience may not always expect. We will always be a punk band at heart but terra firma is an indication that we don’t plan on being easy to predict or pigeon hole."
The new EP is now available to stream on all digital platforms - here.
Check out the 'Terra Firma' music video here: