Jake Longhurst
Nathan Connolly is a Northern Irish musician and guitarist of the popular band Snow Patrol. Impact’s Jake Longhurst chatted with him about his debut solo album, the musical guests featured on various songs, as well as the future of Snow Patrol.
The first thing I noticed about Nathan was his wonderful accent. As he rang my phone for our chat and said “hello”, his Irish lilt floated through the phone like a breath of fresh air on what was otherwise going to be quite a dreary day. With the release of his first ever solo album being the topic of conversation, this chat with the Snow Patrol guitarist was looking like it would be a fascinating one. We exchanged greetings, going through the standard procedure of asking each other how we were, and ended up having a brief chat about how he was really happy being back in Ireland and able to spend time in his home country.
it will be easily enjoyed by fans whilst still keeping enough differences to feel like it’s a genuine side project, and not a mere extension of the group.
Afterwards, we got onto chatting about the new album – a brilliant release – and whilst naturally sharing a lot with the Snow Patrol sound, Nathan has given his first solo record an identity that is adjacent to but far enough away from his work with the band. It will be easily enjoyed by fans whilst still keeping enough differences to feel like it’s a genuine side project, and not a mere extension of the group. The first single released was Fires with Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro, a month before the album itself was released, and I first asked Nathan if his choice of artist was in any way related to the concept of The Reindeer Section, which was a group of Scottish and Irish musicians that Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol’s lead singer) was the frontman of. He came back to say that it was completely unrelated, and that he had wanted to work with Simon for a long time anyway, so when the opportunity arose, he was very excited to take it!
I think it’s one of the strongest songs on the entire record.
I then asked about the other guest featured on the album, Ailbhe Reddy (whose name I thankfully didn’t butcher on the phone, largely due to luck). Nathan told me that he’d originally written the song to be sung by one person, but it just didn’t click for him. He’d then been listening to music and heard Ailbhe’s voice, so proceeded to get in contact and asked her to sing on the track and was blown away by her performance. I wholeheartedly agreed and frankly I think it is one of the strongest songs on the entire record.
We then talked themes, and Nathan told me that the record itself is not specifically based on any one theme, but that plenty of the songs on the record align well together thematically. The title of the record, ‘The Strange Order of Things’, almost encourages the perception that the record is fully thematic, but the title was actually found in a book that Nathan had picked up and it fit perfectly with the record, so he decided to stick with it. I enquired as to the potential reference to the general state of the world, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic still being stuck firmly in the front of people’s minds, but he denied any significant reference and said it was more of a summation of the world in general.
although next year we may well be able to expect something, so I’ll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed!
I did have to ask a bit about his main project, Snow Patrol, and asked if the band would be doing anything to celebrate the upcoming 20th anniversary of their phenomenal album ‘Final Straw’, to which he had to unfortunately burst my bubble of hope and say that their plans were very minimal this year – they’ve all taken some rest from the band, and have decided to stick with the releases of 20th anniversary specials, such as demo tracks for this year, although next year we may well be able to expect something, so I’ll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed!
Shortly after, we said goodbye and Nathan went on to presumably keep chatting to other journalists, in his wonderful Irish accent. All in all, it was a thoroughly pleasant chat about an album that reflects a time and place in its creators head, and is a beautifully understated and reflective piece of music that everyone should try listening to at least once.
Jake Longhurst
Featured image courtesy of Bradley Quinn. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes made to this image.
In-article image 1, 2, 3 and 4 courtesy of @nathanjamesconnolly via Instagram.com. No changes were made to these images.
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