Ever since their early days, east Antrim rock icons Therapy? have had a reputation for taking some of Ireland’s most promising talents under their wing. Over the last 30 years,  they’ve offered a platform  to the likes of Snow Patrol, Kerbdog and, more recently, the Wood Burning Savages and Rews. For their 16th album Hard Cold Fire, the boys have once again put a spotlight on another plucky young up and comer (!) from these parts, Mr Louis MacNeice...

“Oh aye, we thought we’d give him a push,” grins singer/guitarist Andy Cairns. “Basically I found out he lived in Carrickfergus for a time, which is also in east Antrim where we’re from. I found this quote about ‘The hard cold fire of the northerner’ and I thought it’d be a brilliant title for an album. It was the first time in our history where we decided on a title before we had any music written. The quote is about resilience, strength and endurance, and of course, the east Antrim connection was the cherry on top.”

Therapy?’s latest LP is just what the doctor ordered right now. A lean but meaty listen full of impossibly catchy hooks and molar-mauling riffs, there’s a palpable sense of euphoria throughout. Andy tells us that while Hard Cold Fire isn’t about lockdown, the music was certainly informed by it.

“We had around 24 songs ready to go,” recalls the Ballyclare-bred musician. “Some sounded a bit like something from our darker albums like Suicide Pact-You First and were very melancholy. Others were punchier, in the vein of High Anxiety. We decided to go with the latter set of tunes, because we wanted to offer a light at the end of the tunnel. When we finally got into a room together after the first lockdown, it was amazing.

“We were all itching to get recording and you can definitely hear our excitement bleeding into the music. The time off from gigging and being in air conditioned hotels and vans really helped my voice. We treated the vocals as if they were on a dance record – we wanted them to sound euphoric.”

One of Hard Cold Fire’s highlights is ‘Bewildered Herd’. Boasting a sample lifted from Mike Leigh’s Naked, the track tips a cap to their past (posters for ‘92 single ‘Teethgrinder’ feature in the film) and also points toward their future too.

“We haven’t used samples in decades because they’re always a headache to get cleared,” says Andy. “Thankfully Mike let us have it for free. Naked is a wonderful movie and we’re happy we were allowed to use that speech from David Thewlis.

“‘Bewildered Herd’ is about climate change. I’m getting informed by my 23- year-old son, and myself and my wife are also very aware about how the world is affecting him and his friends.”

On the subject of the band’s past and future, Therapy? are set to celebrate both over the months to come, with Irish dates in support of Hard Cold Fire pencilled in for the autumn,, while 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the evergreen Troublegum.

“Lemmy was asked years ago does he ever get tired of talking about ‘Ace Of Spades’,” says Andy. “He said, ‘If you’re going to be remembered for one song, make sure it’s a fucking good one.’ I think a little bit like that about Troublegum. We’re very lucky to have an album like that in our canon. It’s full of signature songs, has sold over a million copies, and it all happened out of the blue.

“It wasn’t really tied to any genre and the lyrics are like punchlines to jokes. I wasn’t a teenager when I wrote it, but some of the lines were left over from when I was. I think most can relate to that time when you’re 16, 17, and life’s shit and you’re trying to figure out where you are in the world. We’re very grateful for what the album has done for us.”

• Hard Cold Fire is out now on Marshall Records.

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