Bren Tallon announces debut solo show at Vicar Street alongside Cat Dowling

Aiken Promotions have announced an incredible co-headlining double bill with Irish singer-songwriters Brendan Tallon and Cat Dowling on October 14th as part of the 'VISION LIVE AT VICAR STREET' series.

Tallon will front a new 7-piece band to perform songs from the album - including previewed singles ‘Old Man Superman’, ‘The First Time I Saw You’ and ‘American Strings’ - along with the soon-to-be-released title track.

After a year-long delay due to the Covid crisis, the album was eventually released in July and received extensive radio coverage and overwhelmingly positive reviews. Enhancing the set with some new songs and a few past favourites, the ex-Revelino frontman and songwriter is excited for his highly-anticipated return to the stage.

Love In These Times is a debut bursting with optimism and up-beat, timeless pop songs full of thoughtful empathy and hope, not to mention addictive hooks and joyous genre bending recklessness. Every song is crafted meticulously and display a dedication to a wide vista of musical touchstones that draw you intimately into Tallon's visions on love and justice.

"If there is a thread running through the songs on this album it's that when things are looking really bad and you feel like you’re losing everything, the one thing you really don’t want to give up on is love. And for me that includes music and love of music," Tallon says of his first solo project. "I don't mean that in a corny or wishy-washy way but in the most stark and brutal way that what keeps you hanging on is love - someone's love or the hope of love, universal connectivity or just one connection that gives you light at the end of the tunnel."

Revisit the August Hot Press interview with Brendan Tallon here.

Co-headlining on the night at Vicar St will be the brilliant Cat Dowling, who is lauded as one of the most wonderful and evocative vocalists in Irish contemporary music. As the frontwoman and prominent songwriter with Alphastates, she gained many admirers for her energy on the live stage and for her hushed and raw deliveries. Comparisons to Liz Frazer, Beth Gibbons, Karen O, Amanda Palmer, Feist and Kristen Hersh have regularly appeared. The forest-set video for her recent single 'Trouble' was premiered by Hot Press.

Cat recently signed to the wonderful, steadily expanding Cork-based record label FIFA Records, who will release her forthcoming album in November.

Her current and second single from that album, ‘Freedom’, is a lush slice of soulful pop perfection draped in broody Americana. “I wrote this song in the early hours of the morning with a newborn on my chest. The lines and melody landed out of nowhere,' Dowling says of the single. "It’s essentially about being free to be who we’re born to be without the shackles of what went before us.”

Produced by Gerry Horan with Dowling as co-producer, and mixed by Ger McDonnell (The Cure, U2, Van Morrison, Martha Wainwright), Cat Dowling's beautifully dark pop songs and those husky and achingly intimate vocals will grip you from the outset.

In 2013, Dowling debuted with The Believer LP, ranked in numerous ‘Best of Year’ music polls. The title track featured in the second series of Banshee, produced by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty, True Blood) and the Witches of East End on TV.

The performer has also lent her vocals on many collaborative projects, including for ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder.

Cat's new single 'Animals' is being released on September 21st through FIFA Records.