Irish indie band Power of Dreams drop comeback album Ausländer

Seminal Dublin indie trio Power of Dreams released their comeback album last week, 31 years after their debut album Immigrants, Emigrants and Me landed.

Ausländer is the much awaited comeback LP, shared via The state51 Conspiracy. A vibrant and reflective companion piece to the earlier release; the project is very much informed by songwriter Craig Walker’s Irish roots and years of touring living in England, France and Germany.

Craig’s subsequent development as one of Europe’s busiest songsmiths is evidenced throughout the work, featuring original members Keith Walker and Ian Olney. The three-piece are joined by producer/bassist Erik Alcock and on keyboard and mixing duties Ali Staton.

“A new studio album was something we had talked about doing over the years but the timing and problems of us all living in different countries, meant it never happened," Craig Walker said in a press release.

"When everything closed in March 2020, suddenly those hurdles of geography and time no longer mattered. It was a window of opportunity that was too good to pass up. I’d been putting songs to one side over the years, as they were obviously Power of Dreams songs."

Recording the album in such a strange time had an effect on the record too. Drummer Keith Walker inadvertently drove through the Black Lives Matter riots in Arizona on his way to record ‘America’ the first single, which definitely added an extra edge to his performance.

Since their last album Become Yourself was released in 1995, Craig has gone on to huge success post-Power of Dreams, initially with UK prog band Archive. He then collaborated with the likes of Mineral, Booka Shade and Them There, sharing 'Fade Out Lines' with his partner Phoebe Killdeer. Reworked by The Avener, the song was recently classified six times diamond in France and was a radio No. 1 in more than 30 countries. Ian is still performing with Sultans of Ping and Keith is playing regularly in Phoenix.

“The reaction from fans has been great since we started releasing the singles last year. 'America' and 'Across The Shannon' topped the iTunes indie charts, while 'Hurricane' was used in the TV show, Made in Chelsea. We have received numerous messages from lifelong fans of the band thanking us for doing a new album. We believe the new album will satisfy long time followers of the band and hopefully introduce a new audience to our music,” Walker concluded.

Listen to Ausländer below: