Newdad for this Friday lunch/Brunch/early dinner. Recorded at this year’s Primavera Sound festival on July 8.
NewDad are from Galway, formed in 2018. The band consists of Julie Dawson (vocals, guitar), Fiachra Parslow (drums) and Sean O’Dowd (guitar). During live performances, the band are currently joined by bass guitarist Marie Freiss.
Their music has been compared to the Cure, Beabadoobee, and Just Mustard by NME magazine. Atwood Magazine wrote of the group: “The band oozes personality with cynical but honest lyrics, colorful visual components, and poignant messages about coping with the, albeit painful, formative experiences.” The group have appeared at Glastonbury Festival, All Points East, the Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris, and Lollapalooza.
Julie Dawson, Áindle O’Beirn and Fiachra Parslow started the band while in secondary school at Coláiste Iognáid as a way of avoiding solo performances for their Leaving Certificate practical music exam. Sean O’Dowd, who was studying music technology in Limerick, began recording the band, before eventually becoming a full member. An early feature in local paper the Connacht Tribune wrote “Belying their relative inexperience, Galway band New Dad are fast becoming one of the city’s most inventive and enthralling acts.” The band released five singles in 2020; “How,” “Swimming,” “Cry,” “Blue” and “I Don’t Recognise You,” which accrued over two million streams on Spotify. On 5 November 2020, the group recorded a live session for Steve Lamacq’s show on BBC 6 Music.
In March 2025, the band announced the departure of bassist Cara Joshi “after some heartfelt conversations”, with the band to tour that summer with Marie Freiss deputizing The following month, NewDad announced release of their third EP, Safe, which released in May 2025. In July, NewDad announced their forthcoming second album Altar, which was released on 19 September 2025. The announcement was accompanied by the release of a lead single, “Roobosh”. The album featured production from Sam Breathwick, who would also tour with the band in the summer of 2025, and songwriting from Justin Parker.
To get an idea what they were up to last month, sit down , relax and press Play – it’s Friday, after all and everything can wait until Monday.
