“If I'm being honest today, there’s sense of am I doing enough?”

A deficiency of effort wouldn't be the first feeling you'd proabably associate with the mammoth task of releasing an album, especially when it’s your fifth, as is the case with veteran singer-songwriter Ultan Conlon.

“It's coupled with excitement, because I'm proud of the record,” reassures Ultan.

And proud he should be.

His glittery and nostalgic new offering, The Starlight Ballroom, marks a shift in songwriting approach from an artist who, self-admittedly was always on the introspective side of things - something Ultan attributes to the passing of his father when he was 13.

“It started me down the road of sitting in my bedroom and playing these songs to deal with it, which was great,” he shares.

“That's where a lot of the introspective stuff comes from. In a weird way in the last two or three years, I'm different, I'm an adult now and I don't want to be going on about how my daddy died. Even though it did shape me and affect me.”

Brooder turned beholder, Ultan feels that his switch to a character-based storytelling form of songwriting has not only helped him up his game but led to a greater connection with his listeners.

“When I do a gig, I want people singing back at me, which they do now with these new songs. I feel it's more communal and inclusive than being a navel-gazer. When you discover that, it's so liberating. I think people have been kind of appreciating me last year or two because of that. Your general punter goes, ‘hey, I don't smell any bullshit’”.

The Starlight Ballroom is inspired by a popular showband venue in Mayo, with romanticisation of the rural Ireland of yester-year present throughout the record.

How and why does someone infatuate themselves with what are now derelict dancehalls scattered across the island?

“There was a review that said I had something in the tone of my voice that resembled Roy Orbison. I can't do five octaves like he did, but I was really thrilled with some reviewer picking that up,” says Ultan.

“During lockdown I got a letter from a fan. Their father owned the ballroom of Romance in Westport in Mayo, about an hour north from where I live. I discovered that Roy Orbison played there in the 60s and I went, holy shit, I had no idea he toured rural Ireland. I went researching some of them old ballrooms and some of the acts who played in them, and it fascinated me.”

While Ultan breathes life into these dancehalls on his new record, he notes that perhaps the venues weren’t all he’s talked them up to be in his record.

“The ballroom days were fucking misery probably,” he laughs.

“I know in my heart and soul it was a wet night in an overcrowded hall with bad sounds. People throwing up left, right and centre and heaving into an old cold hall in February in Westport. I'm sure there wasn't as much romance as I put into it, but that’s part of the fun for me. All I can do is look back and totally romanticize it.”

Ultan Conlon. Photo Credit - Pawel Bebenca

An aspect which helped frame Ultan’s idealisations was the location in which the album was recorded.  No, he didn’t do a Johnny Cash and make a dilapidated dance palace his own Folsom Prison, quite the opposite in fact.

The Starlight Ballroom was made in the far away land of L.A, which Ultan feels helped drag out some of the nostalgia.

“When I'm here in Ireland, I don't feel very Irish.  I live in rural Ireland where GAA and agriculture are such a big aspect of life. I’m not involved in any of that,” he says.

“But when I get to Los Angeles, I'm so Irish and that gets romanticized when you're over there for a couple of months, you kind of play that card a little.”

The Californian city has become Ultan’s home-away-from-home, the songwriter first touching down in the Big Orange over ten years ago.

“A guy called Mark Flanagan from Belfast moved to L.A and opened up a little club on Fairfax Avenue called Largo. It's a mecca of a place, all the big names play there. Somebody sent Mark one of my videos and said I'd be in L.A, and he said that he wanted me to come along and do a gig. I met him and we became friendly, and he introduced me to David.”

The L.A David in question wasn’t Beckham or Grohl, instead Ultan speaks of Grammy winner David Garza. A veteran musician and singer-songwriter, his extensive list of work recently included co-production and the artwork for the 2-time Grammy clinching Fiona Apple album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters.

“He's an amazing musician himself when I wanted to make this record, I reached out to him. It was an amazing experience and such an easy-going environment,” says Ultan. “He co-wrote five of the songs with me, I was happy to hand the reins over to him because he's so good and his heart's in the right place.”

“He's a huge Shane McGowan and U2 fan,” Ultan adds.

“He kind of dragged all of this out of me, this Irishness in that album that I don't think I would have gotten had I met the record here.  It was really odd going to LA to make something that's the most Irish thing I've ever done.”

Ultan notes that, amongst the stupefying resumes of collaborators, there was a certain down-to-earthiness about the place.

“The thing that was so refreshing was the fact that these are just lovely, non-pretentious people at the top of their game. That’s the culture in Los Angeles. They don't write songs on their own, they send them to each other and work as a group.

They're not precious about it. Funny enough, in Ireland, people are a bit more like, oh, ‘I'll write in my bedroom and it's mine and it's precious’, without kind of going, ‘well, it could be a bit better.’ It could be 20% better,  it could be 5% better- the point should be get the best fucking song out of it.”

The result of this relaxed collaboration is a meticulously crafted project, and with most songs on "The Starlight Ballroom" being captured in just two or three takes,  preserves an authentic allure.

One such highlight is the number ‘Susie Gossip’, a song which sprouted from some creative tombstone tourism.

“I saw that name on a headstone. I was joking to myself, I started singing a totally different song,” reveals Ultan. “I finished this song about a nosy neighbour, it was tongue in cheek. I played it live at some gigs and people loved it. But then I realised her family are still alive, I can't fucking put this song out.”

Wishing to keep Ms Gossip’s posthumous reputation intact but not wanting to lose his idea, he rang up his trusty producer to iron things out.

“David sent me some chords and he said, ‘listen, just try this - You're taking a walk, you see the headstone, you see the name and you wonder, I wonder who she was. She was really liked in the community.’

He gave me a whole backstory to her and few hours later and I sent it back to David and he was like, ‘oh man, we got it’”.

Pundits will draw similarities to the Beatles’ classic ‘Eleanor Rigby’, with the name of McCartney’s muse similarly appearing on a gravestone in Liverpool. It must be said, Ultan’s lyrics are a tad more uplifting than the words on the iconic Revolver track.

“That's what I wanted to do, I even chucked Eleanor Rigby’s name into the bridge, just to go with the complete opposite of that scenario.”

On the subject of “all the lonely people”, another song that stands out on The Starlight Ballroom is ‘All Sewn Up’.

“The song is about how we present ourselves online, how everybody has to present themselves as having a good career in order to be taken seriously. I'll be honest, when I was taking myself seriously and wanting to be taken seriously, I wasn't getting a lot of attention.

I see some labels and groups talking a certain way and stuff gets hyped. I realised over the years there's nothing behind a lot of it.  Same with your Instagram ads or your TikToks, none of it matters if the song isn't behind it. It'll dissipate.”

Ultan Conlon. Credit -Pawel Bebenca

While Ultan’s sense of humour is embedded throughout the song, there remains a more serious undertone, a darkness that can often spring from the pressures of being a musician in the modern age.

“You don't know what's going on with anyone in their careers.  I meet people who are perceived to be successful, but when you sit and have a coffee with them you see their struggles nobody has the whole thing as a game.”

These struggles are something Ultan has witnessed first-hand, when he had the opportunity to work with legendary songwriter and guitarist John Martyn.

“I met John and he recorded with me, I admired the man greatly.  On the outside, you might think, oh, my God, what a career and all of that. When I saw the way he drank and suffered, that scared me as a 25 year old. I said, ‘oh my God, I want to play music for the rest of my life.  If I decide to go down this road, that won't be an option.’”

October being World-Mental health month, and the topic being the central focus in Hot Press’ latest issue, Utlan offers some of his own advice for looking after his own mental wellbeing as a musician.

“You might as well keep yourself sane. I wouldn't be human if I didn't have to deal with anxiety and some bouts of sadness and depression and whatnot. I try to keep a routine. I walk every day for probably six, seven, eight kilometres. I also try to meditate regularly.

You need alone time, you need routine, you need stuff that's not all encompassing, be it walking, swimming, meditating, or hanging out with friends that have nothing to do with the music industry.

In my mid-twenties I was drinking quite a lot. I used to binge and go out and party. I quit it when I was 26.”

A sound choice indeed, as a vibrant Ultan prepares to tour Ireland in the coming months November in support of The Starlight Ballroom.

Joining him are Christy Moore and The Stunning percussionist Jimmy Higgins, accordion player Alan Kelly, Scottish musician Eddie Reader, guitarist Michael O’Connor as well as talented vocalist Sabrina Dynan.

“I'm very excited, I've got a wonderful band with me that I don't get to play with enough. There's four band shows in Galway, Castlebar, Carrick in Shannon, Dublin that I'm really looking forward to.”

If you do plan on seeing one of Ultan’s shows, just remember to leave your self-importance in the cloakroom.

“I'm not a fan of going into a venue and treating it like it's a church or sacred space and we're all crying with our fucking heads down.  I just don't buy that anymore.”

For more information on Ultan Conlon's upcoming tour, including dates and tickets, click here.  Stream The Starlight Ballroom below.