Track of the Day: Badhands - 'Head in the Clouds'

Badhands has unveiled his brand new single 'Head in the Clouds' last Friday, a piano-led psychedelic ballad, ahead of the release of his new album.

The award-winning composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fitzpatrick, aka Badhands, will share his third LP The Wheel this Friday (May 5). The album follows his 2022 offering Far Away.

Having been a musician and songwriter for years with the likes of The Mighty Stef, The Last Tycoons, and Maud In Cahoots, Badhands' 2018 debut album Predictable Boy earned deserved critical acclaim.

'Head in the Clouds' maintains a melancholic, woozy pace with rich background instrumentation and relaxed vocals depicting the mindless wandering the same avenues over and over again.

The song was recorded live in the Meadow studio, with extra vocals later added by Aoife Ruth and Paddy Hanna. The track gradually builds in mood and atmosphere towards a soaring finale.

Daniel Fitzpatrick says of the song: “‘Head in the Clouds’ captures the mood of the new album as well as any track. The lyrics describe a person operating in a dreamlike state of denial, oblivious to what's going on in the world around them.”

“It captures a really good, lively performance from the band, which we hammered out in two takes – Ken Mooney on drums, David Tapley on bass, Chris Barry on guitar and Aoife Ruth on synth. The performance is loose but full of energy, and the addition of Aoife and Paddy Hanna’s vocals on the choruses really allow the song to take flight by the end. Sonically I wanted a Blade Runner style synth to help give the music a bit of a dystopian sound to match the lyrics.”

‘Head in the Clouds’ follows Badhands’ atmospheric single ‘For a Little While’, which was on the RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends list two weeks running, and ‘Movie Nights’, which was compared to the soundscapes of Bruce Springsteen and the War on Drugs.

Unlike previous Badhands records, which were meticulously planned in the recording and songwriting, The Wheel was conceived and recorded largely on a whim and in a very short time frame. The idea to record was initially inspired by Peter Jackson’s 2022 documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, which focused on the making of Let It Be.

“We had all been really inspired by the Get Back documentary; watching The Beatles flounder and struggle, but ultimately pull it together, and this provided the impetus for starting the project,” he shares.

The result is a looser, more collaborative effort, which saw Fitzpatrick composing predominantly on piano rather than guitar. The compositions continue to demonstrate the influence of Fitzpatrick's scoring work, with the album at times sounding part dystopian soundtrack, part early 1970s Leonard Cohen.

Badhands has spent the past number years composing scores for wildlife documentaries with the world’s largest TV organisations, alongside acclaimed theatre productions.

Live dates:

05.06 – Derry / Bennigans
06.06 – Dublin / Workmans Cellar
12.06 – Newbridge / Flanagans
13.06 – Kinsale / Prims Bookshop
27.06 – Louisburgh / Atlantic Lodge