Cyber Celt is the genre-defying debut album from innovative Irish trio CHASING ABBEY, available now on limited edition coloured vinyl, standard vinyl and CD from www.chasingabbey.ie The accompanying CYBER CELT WORLD TOUR started at a sold-out Dublin Vicar Street and a sold-out Belfast Limelight and takes in extensive dates across the UK, Europe, the US, Singapore and Australia before concluding at home in Ireland with newly announced dates at the turn of the year.
From Tullamore in the heart of Ireland, the trio of multi-instrumentalists, producers and vocalists Ronan Bell, Jonathan Byrne and Ted Conway fuse traditional Celtic instrumentation with modern electronic production and are influenced by peers such as Kneecap, Lankum and The Mary Wallopers, artists who use the beautiful language of Gaeilge to deliver their lyrics with maximum weight.
“Kneecap reignited the flame, in a way,” says Ted Conway. “We feel it’s our responsibility to use that to progress our culture and tradition in the same way we’ve been doing it through our music, and it’s often easier for us to express that in our native language.”
Cyber Celt is a coming together of the past, present and future, in which Chasing Abbey reflect on the lessons they can glean from their ancestors – their respect for nature and tradition – while also learning from their mistakes. They infuse their music with a strong political bent, melding themes of pride, defiance, heritage and tradition with messages against corruption, greed and colonialism.
“We have a moral code that we live by – you have to, in these times,” adds Conway. “It’s pretty crazy out there and you’ve got a lot of racism, a lot of hatred, bigotry, sexism, the whole fucking shebang. It feels rampant at the moment. So everybody has a duty to try and stand against it, because we can’t just let it go on. This is the purpose of music, of being an artist.”
New single Greedy Pigs stems from this philosophy, influenced by Conway’s time working as a butcher with his uncles and grandfather. It’s a song about people who are wholly consumed by greed, blind to any consequence of suffering of others.
“I noticed there was always one pig that bullied the rest and ate all the food. His greed could not be satisfied. He would eat and eat and eat, and he became massive,” he recalls.“But the thing about that was, he was fast tracking himself to the slaughterhouse. I see a lot of parallels in today’s world – greed for the sake of it, greed that cannot be satisfied or quenched and the song draws on those observations.”
Íorónta, meanwhile, is a song about the oppression of the Irish people and the oppression that still takes place around the world today. The Irish word for ‘ironic’, it points out how those who fight back against colonialism or genocide are routinely labelled ‘terrorists’, and highlights the deep-rooted trauma of peoples who have had their rights, language, culture and history snatched away from them.
“We understand how these systems work and how the oppressors manipulate the narrative to make it seem like those they are oppressing are the criminals,” says Conway. “So there’s a solidarity between the Irish and others, like the people of Palestine, who are going through that today.”
Cyber Celt may be their debut album, but Chasing Abbey already have a worldwide fanbase, built from a decade of single and EP releases – earning awards and multiple-platinum records while reaching over one million followers online – and their incredible live show, which is as much a spiritual awakening as it is a concert performance. The trio mix soaring energy with a message of unity and social justice that drives home the feeling that this is more than just a show.
Full UK and Ireland dates as below. Tickets here: https://www.chasingabbey.ie/pages/tour-dates
NOVEMBER
Tue 03 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Wed 04 LONDON Scala
Sun 08 BRIGHTON Patterns (LOW TICKETS)
Tue 10 MANCHESTER Deaf Institute (LOW TICKETS)
Wed 11 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club (VENUE UPGRADE)
Thu 12 BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy 2
Fri 13 OXFORD O2 Academy 2
Sun 15 GLASGOW SWG3 Warehouse (LOW TICKETS)
Tue 17 LIVERPOOL O2 Academy 2
Wed 18 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
DECEMBER
Sun 27 CORK, IE Cyprus Avenue
Mon 28 KILLARNEY, IE Gleneagle Club
Tue 29 BANTRY, IE Maritime Hotel
Wed 30 WATERFORD, IE Bank Lane
JANUARY
Fri 01 LIMERICK, IE Dolans Warehouse
Sat 02 DERRY Nerve Centre
