Track of the Day: Joel Harkin - 'Is Iomaí Lá Sa Chill Orainn'

Off the back of his return single, ‘Letters From Alan to George’, Belfast alternative folk artist, Joel Harkin, claims his place of one of Ireland's up and coming trailblazers with ‘Is Iomaí Lá Sa Chill Orainn’. Premiering with Hot Press ahead of it's August 24 release, the masterful effort from Harkin is one we're proud to introduce to listeners.

Sitting at six minutes, the track feels like mere seconds, with the triumphant strings, glistening guitar, and sparse drum beats offering a perfect cocoon for Harkin's vocal, furthermore when Offaly artist, Aoife Wolf, is introduced to the mix. ‘Is Iomaí Lá Sa Chill Orainn’ is a remarkable ebb and flow, of an emotive, carefully-crafted narrative arc. Capturing all the hallmarks that made his 2020 debut album, Never Happy, fully worthy of a shortlist nod at the Northern Ireland Music Prize, the musician's latest offering showcases a lyrical maturity and stronger knowledge of his own musicality.

The chaotic breakdown towards the end of the track adds an indescribable teenage angst to the track, showcasing Harkin's emotion and vocal talent excellently.

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Speaking about ‘Is Iomaí Lá Sa Chill Orainn’ Harkin said: “The title directly translates to 'there are many days in the churchyard,' which doesn’t mean much without the context. It’s supposed to be like the Irish answer to carpe diem but instead of focusing on the positive of seize the day it’s more like 'you only have finite time now, whereas you have loads of time in the grave.' I like it. It’s like the looming abyss of death spurring you on to find meaning in your life and do something with your time. It doesn’t always work, mind you.”

He continues: “The first verse of the song is about trying to conceive the death of a loved one and how I’d react to the situation. It’s not a nice thing to write about. I have a lot of intrusive thoughts about it I thought might help to get them on paper. So far I’m not sure that it has. The second verse is about the loneliness of city living, the isolation and how one can feel disconnected from people. Quantifying in the worry that time is being wasted instead of spent.”

Providing his finest visual accompaniment ot date, Harkin sealed the deal with a pitch-perfect, reference-heavy video courtesy of Belfast filmmaker and photographer Darren Hill. Shot across two distinct locations, it’s a wonderfully immersive world where, in Harkin’s words, “everything is a bit.”

“It’s the music video that I wanted to make in 2008,” says Harkin. “The beginning of the song fits in with the type of song I usually sing but the end I think was kind of emo so I wanted a big emo music video. The shots in the woods are a wee bit earthier and more natural whereas the shots in the venue are more kind of processed and artificial. I also wanted to have a couple of wee references to themans that did it best. We got the whole band into the woods like Paramore did for ‘Decode’, and we tried to recreate or allude to some of their close up shots of Hayley Williams.”

While the music video hasn't landed yet, you can check out the track, ‘Is Iomaí Lá Sa Chill Orainn’, below!