 GARETH DUNLOP
RIGHT ABOUT READY
new single
out 12.08.22
(Zenith Café/Membran) < included on
ANIMAL
album
out now “Sophisticated pop with a modern feel and appeal. It’s classy music and you can see why he is in demand from other artists“
GET READY TO ROCK!
“A surprising album, more than the blend of its influences and casting a few new out there for the future. Is this where Roxy Music were heading, had they ever got beyond ‘Avalon’?”
AT THE BARRIER
“An immersive, synth textured set that blends ambient pop with soul, a touch of Celtic and a splash of cinematic”
FABRICATIONS HQ
“‘Animal’ is a beast of an album. Just put it on and bathe in its glow”
MAXIMUM VOLUME MUSIC ON TOUR WITH FOY VANCE
30.08.22 YORK Barbican
31.08.22 MANCHESTER Albert Hall
01.09.22 EDINBURGH Queen’s Hall
03.09.22 LONDON Eventim Apollo
04.09.22 BIRMINGHAM Alexandra Theatre
05.09.22 DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
07.09.22 CORK Cyprus Avenue
09.09.22 BELFAST SSE Arena 
GARETH DUNLOP photo by Laura Maria
Northern Irish singer-songwriter and producer Gareth Dunlop has just released a single entitled ‘Right About Ready’, a soulful and anthemic song lifted from his recently released new album, ‘Animal’. A nifty looking karaoke-themed video is also available. Dunlop explains that “the further I got into putting my new album together the more I realised how retro-synth the whole thing was going, with ‘Right About Ready’ really leaning into that style. I started discussing visuals with my regular director Jamie Niesh, who has that rare ability to take the smallest of ideas and blow them up into something much bigger and better. He took what I thought would be a basic lyric video and turned it on its head into a concept with scenes, setting and visual candy.” “There is a style and a self-assuredness with ‘Right About Ready’,” adds Niesh. “As a group, we have a love for bringing in things that we have known over the years into the visuals, and this song just sat right for us to have some fun with, lean back into our ’90s childhoods and not take it too seriously. It is a really simple concept that relies on Gareth giving it all he’s got, which thankfully he always does.” ‘Right About Ready’ is among a diverse set of songs on ‘Animal’, which also contains the similarly evocative yet timeless ‘Look Back Smiling’, the atmospheric ‘Sorrow’ and ‘Prisoner Of My Past’, the laid-back ‘60s dream-pop vibe of ‘Humans’, plus a title song that adds an electronic bounce to its subtle groove. ‘Animal’ was recorded and produced in Dunlop’s own Sycamore Studios in Belfast during lockdown, a period that also saw him produce new records by his friends and compatriots Foy Vance and Lee Rogers. All three toured the US together in May 2022, with Dunlop doing double duty as part of Vance’s band, while he is set for an identical stint on a UK and Ireland tour that commences in late August. Dunlop and Rogers will also play a special one-off London show on 20th October, with tickets available HERE .
GARETH DUNLOP ‘Animal’ front cover
Gareth Dunlop has been recognised as an accomplished talent ever since the BBC tipped him as ‘one to watch’ in 2010 when he was not long out of his teens. In the ensuing decade he released several singles, a handful of EPs and an album that were musically eclectic yet all showcased his highly soulful voice, with several of his songs going on to be used in the hit TV series ‘Nashville’, commercials for Disney and Subaru, and more. He also had songwriting credits for recordings by stars such as T.I., Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and John Oates. However, prior to the initial lockdown, Dunlop was just as likely to be heard by live audiences as he forged a reputation as a magnetic and charismatic performer on frequent headlining tours and support slots to the likes of Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Snow Patrol and James Morrison. Reviewing one of his shows, Gigslutz stated that “Dunlop has the kind of voice that can still a room with its vulnerability, the meaning behind the words heartfelt, the emotion real”, while Maximum Volume Music succinctly described it as “instantly memorable”. In his home territory, the Irish News praised Dunlop for his “distinctive croon and ear for sharp melodic/lyrical hooks”, while local website ChordBlossom declared him to be “one of the greatest talents to come out of Northern Ireland”, a sentiment only slightly qualified by National Rock Review who stated that he is “arguably one of Northern Ireland’s greatest singer/songwriters from the past decade”. Inspired by icons such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits, plus a soupçon of Pink Floyd, Dunlop picked up a guitar aged 14 and soon began performing covers and original songs in live venues around Northern Ireland, RoI and the rest of the UK. In 2011 he won a Young Songwriter of the Year award in Belfast that not only earned him an invite to collaborate with seasoned writers in Nashville, an experience he has repeated many times since, but it also enabled him to tour the US extensively. Having spent so long away from Belfast following his initial breakthrough, Dunlop decided to record and co-produce his 2017 debut album, ‘No. 79’, in stripped-back fashion at home – literally – with Nashville based writer Bobby Hamrick and compatriot Alastair McMillan, who had also recorded Dunlop’s first studio sessions at Dublin’s esteemed Windmill Lane and has engineered for U2, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. A winning fusion of folk and soul, the album earned critical acclaim and was playlisted on several Irish and UK radio stations, while in RoI it earned an Album of the Week slot on the prestigious RTE1.
GARETH DUNLOP photo by Daniel Morton
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