Irish musician Maria Somerville will share her forthcoming second album and debut project on 4AD, Luster, on 25 April.
Somerville has shared the upcoming record’s third single, ‘Stonefly’, a slinky ambient waltz fleshed out with dreamy washes of vibrating feedback, grounding drum beats, transportive harp passages, and soothing vocal delivery. The track’s release is also accompanied by an atmospheric music video directed by Daniel Swan (who has past credits creating visuals for A.G. Cook’s PC Music, as well as Bladee and Yung Lean’s 2024 Psykos LP).
Over the last few months, Somerville further introduced Luster’s haunting tranquility and lush sonic backdrop with two other singles from the record: ‘Garden’ (a whirring, all-consuming merger of soaring feedback, airy percussion, and nostalgic guitar chords produced by Diego Herrera, aka Suzanne Kraft) and ‘Projections’ (a wistful and romantic shoegaze track drenched in longing via fuzzed-out bass and strummed guitar).
Maria Somerville – ‘Stonefly’
By the time Irish musician Maria Somerville started writing Luster, her landmark label debut for 4AD, she had lived away from her native Connemara for quite some time. Having grown up amongst the wild, mountainous terrain of Galway’s rural west coast, she later relocated to Dublin, where she patiently developed an atmospheric dream pop signature inspired by the landscape of her youth – a spellbinding sound world of gusting ambient electronics, ethereal guitar strums, sparse percussion, and hushed lyrical vignettes. In 2019, this culminated in All My People, a self-released LP steeped in reverb, nostalgia and a yearning for home that won praise from discerning press and listeners alike.
It was upon returning to Connemara, in a house near where she was raised overlooking one of the country’s largest lakes, Lough Corrib, that work commenced on the songs that would eventually become Luster, an album that illuminates Somerville’s music anew, pushing it forward in both sound and spirit. Where All My People conveyed memories and melancholic longing with misty slowcore balladry, these 12 tracks show us an artist who’s more assured in the path her life has taken, and the person she’s become in the process. As she sings in ‘Trip’ – “I can see more clearly than I could before. I know now wat’s true for me.”
Invigorated by her surroundings and emboldened by her community, Somerville found a renewed sense of creative energy upon returning to home soil. It provided “fertile ground” for free-flowing recording sessions in her small living room studio, where she stitched together demos that were then fleshed out with friends and collaborators, and later mixed by the renowned New York-based engineer Gabriel Schuman. Contributors included producers J. Colleran, Brendan Jenkinson and Diego Herrera (aka Suzanne Kraft), as well as Lankum’s Ian Lynch, whose uilleann pipe drones you can hear in ‘Violet’, and Margie Jean Lewis, whose violin bows reverberate through the ambient haze of ‘Flutter’. Sessions with musicians Henry Earnest and Finn Carraher McDonald (aka Nashpaints) helped “tie it all together”, while contributions from friends Roisin Berkley and Olan Monk enshrined the companionship they’ve shared since Somerville returned to Connemara.
Listeners have had a window into Somerville’s world every Monday and Tuesday morning since 2021 via her beloved Early Bird Show on NTS Radio, where her dawn chorus selections range from blissful ambient and shoegaze to traditional Irish folk songs. Since signing to 4AD that same year, Somerville has toured with her labelmates Dry Cleaning, and released two covers for the label’s 40th anniversary celebrations – taking on Nancy Sinatra’s ‘Kinky Love’ and Air Miami’s ‘Sea Bird’. With the release of Luster, she has signalled the arrival of a new era that will see her play around the world in 2025 accompanied by a live band. Rest assured though, no matter where Somerville goes, she’ll take a piece of home with her – a living, breathing, timeless essence you can sense in every note, as clear as the air by the Corrib.
PRAISE FOR MARIA SOMERVILLE
“There’s not a duff moment here – Luster isn’t just one of the best pop albums of the year, it’s the best thing we’ve heard from 4AD in years.” – Boomkat
“An edgy, cliché-snapping take on Irish sounds and Irish myths.” – Crack
“Dynamic, at times almost ambient, but always hopelessly beautiful.” – Clash
“A cavernous slice of dream-pop.” – Our Culture
“One of Ireland’s most vital young voices.” – Bandcamp
“Her soft vocals and lilting electronics melt into each other, providing escapism and respite for overwhelmed ears.” – Get in Her Ears
“Pop, trad and electronica are fused into gripping new contortions by the Connemara-born artist.” – Irish Times
“An artist whose music creates an atmosphere of timeless grace, music that seems to stand alone in its own space.” – Totally Dublin
Luster is out on 25 April on all digital platforms, as well as physical formats (CD, Clear Vinyl LP). For more information, and to pre-order, head HERE.
Maria Somerville – Luster
4AD0755
25 April 2025
Formats: Digital, CD, Clear Vinyl LP, Clear LPE + 7”, Black White Label (Bandcamp Exclusive)
Tracklisting
- Réalt
- Projections
- Garden
- Corrib
- Halo
- Spring
- Stonefly
- Flutter
- Trip
- Violet
- Up
- October Moon
MARIA SOMERVILLE ONLINE
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