Oisin Mod Trades West Cork Isolation for Nocturnal Indie Rock on 'Canary'

Something is stirring in the dark corners of Oisin Mod's second album. The Galway-born, Dublin-based singer-songwriter wrote much of Canary alone in a rundown house in West Cork, and the ten songs that came out of that month sound like they were recorded at the hour when suspicion sets in. It arrives November 6, and it is the sound of an artist getting louder, stranger, and a lot more certain of himself.

Mod's 2022 debut Honeycomb was a quiet marvel, produced by Bill Ryder-Jones (the ex-Coral guitarist whose own solo records map the outer edges of melancholia). Hot Press called it "the arrival of a promising new voice in Irish music," the Daily Mirror heard an other-worldliness throughout, and support slots with Gruff Rhys followed, along with just two headline shows to date, in London and Ireland. Ryder-Jones is back behind the desk for Canary, and this time he pushed Mod to make a record "with a pair of shoulders." The whole thing was cut in twelve days with drummer Phil Murphy, which explains the live-wire tension running underneath.

What went into the songs tells you plenty about where Mod's head was. He was watching Twin Peaks and David Lynch films, reading John Healy's memoir The Grass Arena, and listening to Rowland S. Howard's Pop Crimes. "Jagged thought processes were a big part of where these songs came from," he says. "Being disillusioned and feeling like a cynic and maybe becoming not so easy to be around yourself."

What he sounds like

The press keeps reaching for the same names, and they fit. Mod's hushed vocals sit in the Elliott Smith register, and there is a Mazzy Star sway to the dreamier tracks, but the Canary sessions add muscle and menace to that foundation. Where Honeycomb was delicate and minimalist, the new record brings heavier instrumentation, stranger textures, and more dramatic arrangements. Ryder-Jones calls him "very minimalistic and melody-led," with a way with words that is very unique to him.

Start here

The title track "Canary" is the mission statement: shimmering vintage organ, guitars that rumble and growl, and Mod's hushed voice whispering from the shadows ("When he pulls the thread just right / You'll sing like a canary"). "Mirror Mirror" moves with the woozy elegance of a late-night waltz, while the newest single "Premium" leans into dark indie rock, an unease that grows through the arrangement with Mod's melodic instincts holding everything together. Then go back to Honeycomb's opener "Luminator" to hear where this all started.

Where to follow

Instagram: @oisinmod