Cry Monster Cry kick off their highly anticipated Irish tour tonight (February 21) at Levis' Corner House, Ballydehob, in support of their stunning sophomore album, Tides.

Ahead of the tour, the alt-folk brothers sat down with Hot Press for an in-depth interview – which will be published in our March 5 issue.

It’s been nearly five years since Cry Monster Cry first established themselves as a formidable new force on the Irish music scene, with their acclaimed debut album, Rhythm Of Dawn. Now the duo, made up of Dublin brothers Richie and Jamie Martin, are back – shrugging off most of the indie-pop sheen of their first record in favour of an unexpectedly raw and honest approach.

“We were just writing songs for ourselves, about what was going on in our lives over the space of the last two or three years,” Richie explained.”Then, before we knew it, we had this group of songs, all about the mundane things in life that happen when you grow older – the good and the bad, and the struggles of the world we live in.

“We actually had a conversation about not recording them,” he continued. “We thought about going down a different road – writing songs under a commercial banner, to get plays on the radio. But that’s not what we believe in. We approached this project knowing that the likelihood was that we wouldn’t get radio play, but it’s actually turned out the opposite, because people are really getting behind it.”

The brothers also looked forward to their upcoming Irish tour – which they're capping off with a special homecoming show at the Pepper Canister Church Dublin on March 27.

“Those are the kind of experiences that we’ll always try to seek out,” Jamie told us. “When we’re old men on our deathbeds, we want to be able to say, ‘Remember that time we played a fucking cabin in the Alps?’ Or, ‘Remember that time we played in the Pepper Canister Church?’ That’s what we look for as musicians – so I can’t wait to get back out there and do it all again.”

Tides is out now. See Cry Monster Cry's Irish tour dates below:

• Levis’ Corner House, Ballydehob (February 21)
• Central Arts, Waterford (22)
• Mike The Pies, Listowel (27)
• The Stables, Mullingar (28)
• Coughlan’s Bar (March 6)
• The Black Gate, Galway (8)
• Wexford Arts Centre (14)
• Fennelly’s, Callan (20)
• The American Bar, Belfast (21)
• Pepper Canister Church, Dublin (27)

See the full interview with Cry Monster Cry in the next issue of Hot Press, out March 5.