Gavin James: "There’s definitely been a huge mindset change in myself in the last two years"

Gavin James is on holiday in Greece, nursing a mild hangover in the heat. Not the ideal conditions for a red haired Irishman like himself.

“I had too much fish last night so I woke up feeling like a fish,” he laughs. “And now I feel less like a fish, so it’s grand.”

The Dubliner is still in good form, and appreciates the alleviation provided by a run and a ginger shot. Gratitude also happens to be the intrinsic emotion of his latest pop opus, Goldrush. It’s his fifth studio full-length, and could round off a hat-trick of Irish number ones, following 2020’s Boxes and 2022’s The Sweetest Part.

“I’m definitely getting a bit older and more grateful for home life, and my mam and dad,” James explains.  “And for being able to do this thing as long as I have been. All the songs are about that. Now I’m just waiting for the songs to come to me, rather than sitting down and writing them. It’s a good way of doing it.”

A lot of maturing and reflecting has been done. Goldrush reminisces about James’ twenties, which were a whirlwind after he emerged as a radio-dominating voice 10 years ago.

“I’ve seen the gold rush, I’ve watched the river run dry,” he sings on the title track.

“I wrote that song about my twenties,” he reflects. “I was touring a lot and having lots of fun. It’s about seeing that and then seeing myself for what I am and what I want to be. Do I want to be like that in my thirties? Drunk and hungover?

“There’s definitely been a huge mindset change in myself in the last two years. Being a little more healthy and looking after myself. I’ve started drinking this shit (points to ginger shot). The whole album has a lot of reflection, to be honest.”

The music mirrors that arc.

“It starts off in a very rockish mood and then towards the second half, when you flip the vinyl, it’s like a totally different record,” James continues. “The second half is uplifting. I really wanted it to be a little shout-out to my other records as well. It’s all kinda grateful – the second half is really grateful to be honest.”

He’s grown in other ways too. For the first time, James took command of the production reins, recording at Black Mountain studios in Dundalk.

“It’s never easier making albums,” he says. “This is the funnest album I’ve ever done. Because there’s a lot more in it. I jumped into production way more on this record than I have on any other.

“A lot of it is live stuff. Something I was going for was to make it sound less perfect. You chase a lot of perfection with pop records, so I wanted to make it a little less shiny and nice. Even though there definitely are parts that are shiny and nice.”

Gavin James on September 23rd, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Carrying the emotional heft of the album is its closing track, ‘Afterlife (Reprise)’. The Lankum-esque celtic drone even has its own backstory.

“My uncle who passed away recently, I used his accordion. I think it’s from the 1920s,” James says. “He was 92. I can’t play it, I was just trying to find the note that was the most in key. So I put that as the last song on the record. That was the last song I wrote by myself too.

“It all just stemmed from having that drone going throughout the whole thing and trying to think of a melody to go with it, and making the melody as interesting as you can, without overdoing it.

“I love writing sad shit – sad shit is the easiest for me, I don’t know why. It’s always an interesting thing trying to weigh the lines between something sad and uplifting.”

It sounds like a classic Irish pint-raising, drinking song. One might be surprised it’s taken James so long to go down that route, considering he was reared in the pub scene.

“[‘Afterlife’] is the first song I wrote that’s kinda Irish. Which is strange, because I am Irish,” he says. “I used to play the tin whistle all the time when I was a kid. I’d play a Kylie Minogue song in the back of the car and my dad would be like ‘What the fuck are ya doing?’ Then eventually, I got into Slayer, Korn, Metallica and a lot of heavy metal. So, I started to do that on the tin whistle a little bit. Then my dad got me a guitar when I was 10.

“I definitely got more of an Irish Influence after I started playing pubs when I was 17. I was still finishing my Leaving Cert and then I went straight into pubs to do gigs. I started off doing every Sunday and Tuesday, and then when I was 19, I was doing about 14 gigs a week. Doing all those Irish songs had such a huge impact. I did a lot of pop/radio stuff as well, which helped with writing.”

James has since gone on to bigger stages, including multiple 3Arena headliners. That doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about the power of the humble boozer, though. He recently acquired the Doyle’s Corner pub in Phibsborough, which he’s been busy turning into a music venue.

“Me and my brother have always wanted to do something like that together,” he explains. “I used to drink in Dalymount quite a lot when I was young, and I used to do gigs in Dalymount when I was 14, 15.

They used to just give us the room downstairs.

“I remember going into Doyle’s. That room – the front room – looked like a venue to me. There’s gonna be a stage built there which is great. I’ll try my best to make it as good of a venue as possible, for people who want to play there. There’s so many bands.

“There are so many colleges that have bands too. I think it would be really fun to have another venue in Phibsborough, and if you’re living there, it would be nice to have somewhere to go and listen to music.”

• Goldrush is out now.