Culture
16 Jun 21

For Those I Love releases full Other Voices set to mark 30th birthday

Originally performed last December at Church of St James in Dingle, David Balfe wowed the few live audience members permitted to watch the event, before his online set blew fans and newcomers away.

David Balfe (For Those I Love) has released the full set of his 2020 Other Voices performance, featuring poignant, powerful and explosive depictions of grief from his self-titled debut album.

Earlier this year, Other Voices' Courage series created some of the standout Irish music moments of 2020 - including Denise Chaila’s star-making performance at the National Gallery, and Fontaines D.C. playing their now Grammy-nominated album, A Hero’s Death, in Kilmainham Gaol.

"I'm very proud to be able to stand on a stage and just shout about how much I love my friends and my family, how thankful I am for the area that raised me and for the empathy that it instilled in me," Balfe told MayKay ahead of his performance, which saw his generation-defining full length project portrayed in all its glory.

Today, I turn 30 years old.

To mark the occasion, my full set from Other Voices has been made available to you all. My endless thanks to @OtherVoicesLive https://t.co/4OTYjjQXXx

— For Those I Love (@forthoseilove) June 16, 2021

His Other Voices show includes a spine-tingling rendition of ‘I Have A Love’ - the breakout track from an album that mourns and celebrates David Balfe’s friend since childhood, Paul Curran, who was struggling with addiction when in 2018 he died by suicide.

Grief-stricken, David holed up in his room and channeled the pain and hurt he was feeling into penning a massive 76 songs. Whittling them down to the nine tracks that were finally selected to appear on For Those I Love was a tough task but Balfe’s self-editing skills turned out to be as finely honed as his songwriting ones. For Those I Love landed a deal with September Recordings, the same management company that looks after Adele - who set their own label up purely for the creative visionary.

Elsewhere in the Other Voices set sees David perform 'You Live / No One Like You' and 'Birthday / The Pain', with a projector at his side and the Coolock Reds' Shelbourne flag at hand - like on Jools Holland.

Read the April 2021 Hot Press interview with David Balfe here.

Watch the full, enthralling set from For Those I Love below: