On January 22, Yep Roc Records will release Aoife O’Donovan’s ‘In The Magic Hour,’ the follow-up to her breakout 2013 solo debut ‘Fossils.’ Produced by Tucker Martine (Neko Case, The Decemberists), ‘In The Magic Hour’ features 10 newly-recorded songs, nine of which were written by O’Donovan, with contributions from an enviable list of collaborators and friends: I’m With Her band mates Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz, Chris Thile (Punch Brothers), Nate Query (The Decemberists), Brooklyn Rider, Gabriel Kahane and others.
A tireless touring musician, O’Donovan will support Glen Hansard on his US tour this November, and play shows with I’m With Her, before year’s end (see below for dates). Her ‘In the Magic Hour’ tour will start on the Irish shores in Dublin. US 2016 headlining dates will be announced soon.
As O’Donovan began writing the songs that would comprise “In The Magic Hour,” her grandfather, an O’Donovan family patriarch, died. His passing opened a flood of memories for Aoife, who was raised in Boston, but spent idyllic childhood summers alongside many of her grandfather’s twenty-six other grandchildren in the small Irish town of Clonakilty where he lived. The album artwork for ‘In The Magic Hour’ features a photograph of a seven-year-old Aoife on one such trip, and a faint recording of her grandfather’s singing can be heard on the album’s track and traditional Irish song “Donal Óg.”
In the two years since “Fossils” was released, Aoife has earned features from NPR and the New York Times and performed everywhere from Bonnaroo to the Grand Ole Opry. She even received a nod from President Barack Obama, who recently included a track from ‘Fossils’ on his 2015 Summer Vacation Playlist. The Guardian said Aoife possesses “the ability to surprise an audience with the contrast between her gentle appearance at the microphone and the invisible punch of her performance” and The New York Times said O’Donovan’s “first name is hard to pronounce, [but] her voice is easy on the ears.” For the record her first name is pronounced EE-fah.
NPR and Folk Alley premiered the music video for the lead single “Magic Hour,” featured in Songs We Love.
As O’Donovan’s forceful, piano-driven folk-rock song reminds us, every choice we make has a unique set of consequences. If we’re lucky, there’s someone or something that might hold a hand out to us, offering to share the burden of repercussion; but there are times, we’ve got to bear the weight on our own. Coming to terms and accepting that responsibility – maybe that, O’Donovan seems to say, is the real magic hour.
Head to NPR to read the full story, and stream the video below.
Pre-order the record on CD/LP to receive 6 Limited Edition bonus tracks. The LP comes on translucent blue vinyl. You can bundle your pre-order with an exclusive nightlight, or pre-order from Apple Music / Amazon Music.
‘In The Magic Hour’ Tracklist:
- Stanley Park
- Magic Hour
- Porch Light
- Hornets
- Magpie
- Donal Óg
- The King of All Birds
- Not The Leaving
- Detour Sign
- Jupiter
2015 North American Tour Dates:
10/18 – Brooklyn, NY – St Ann’s Warehouse %
11/9 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall *
11/10 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic *
11/13 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom *
11/14 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre *
11/16 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre *
11/17 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater *
11/19 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre *
11/20 – Minneapolis, MN – State Theatre *
11/21 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre *
11/23 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant *
11/24 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre *
11/25 – Atlanta, GA – Buckshead Theatre *
12/10 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom ^
12/11 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
2016 European Tour Dates
1/27 – Dublin, IE – Tradfest
1/28 – Belfast, UK – Out to Lunch Festival
1/29 – Glasgow, UK – Celtic Connections
1/30 – Sheffield, UK – Greystones
1/31 – Bury, UK – The Met
2/1 – Bristol, UK – Tunnels
2/5 – Oxford, UK – Bullingdon
% w/ Thomas Bartlett, Sam Amidon
* w/ Glen Hansard
^ w/ I’m With Her: Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz