AUTRE MONDE

Autre Monde is Paddy Hanna, Padraig Cooney, Mark Chester and Eoghan O'Brien.  They are from Dublin in Ireland and they share a tangled history in many Popical Island Collective related bands including Land Lovers, Skelocrats, Ginnels, No Monster Club and Grand Pocket Orchestra.

Following the critical success of their debut album ‘The Imaginary Museum’, Autre Monde return with ‘Sensitive Assignments’. The album was developed by the band amid profound life transitions, with three of the four members becoming first-time fathers during its creation.

A strict ‘no prior ideas’ rule was used to drive the writing process. In short, there are no pre-written songs: all songs emerged from collaborative beginnings in the rehearsal room, focused by a shared vision honed by discussions, making playlists and constantly pulling at threads. In the songs, you might hear echoes of Clinic, Robert Palmer, Michael McDonald, ‘Blue’ Gene Tyranny, Terry Riley, Portishead, 1970s Zamrock cuts, early 2000s hip-hop, Albert Ayler, Can, Devo... maybe even The Beatles at times. Mostly you’ll hear a clear progression from The Imaginary Museum, a more coherent, more confident band enjoying making music together.

Subject-matter ranges from admiration for the assassinated former leader of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara (Pity for Upright Man) to a Franciscan protest song (Here Now, Birdie, Birdie) to the existential and practical adaptation to becoming a family man (Road to Domestos) to a theatrical mini-opera concerning the release of a man from prison (Sensitive Assignment, Parts 1-4).

The album was recorded with longtime collaborator Daniel Fox (Gilla Band) on production and engineering duties at Sonic Studios in Dublin in 2022.