Fast-rising Irish artist, musician and producer Constance Keane (aka Fears) has shared hauntingly beautiful single '16' featuring her late close friend and cello player, Sophie Gwen Williams.

Fears has also revealed news of a debut London performance at a TULLE Collective live event taking place on May 7th at Chat’s Palace, plus performances at SXSW. The full line up for the TULLE showcase will be announced soon. Get your tickets here. Keane recently performed at ESNS festival online, delivering a critically acclaimed pink-lit show.

Amongst the rolling beats that are influenced by the traditional Irish drum, the bodhrán, the plucked strings of Williams' cello on '16' are contrasted by the hushed angelic vocals of Keane, whose lyrics reflect on a difficult past relationship and the freedom that hindsight offers. Williams’ instrumentals on the poignant track were recorded at a filmed performance from the one and only time the duo got to play the track together.

Williams was an acclaimed performance artist, classically trained musician and trans rights activist from Northern Ireland who co-founded We Exist, a charity which raises vital funds to help trans people across the UK pay for healthcare costs. She was also the chair and one of the original members of The 343, a Belfast-based queer art collective. Here she also founded 343 radio, which is Ireland’s first ever queer radio.

“Sophie was an incredible artist and a very close friend of mine," Fears says of her new single. "We did a filmed performance together last March, thinking we'd get a chance to record it 'properly' in a studio, but she passed away before we could. Zoe and I dedicate the video for '16' to her memory. I had made her a dress for the original performance out of pink tulle - the same fabric I have with me in the video. She was a really inspirational and encouraging person, and I wanted to create something that shows how I carry her with me, even though I no longer have her physically here.”

Greenway filmed Fears in The Maharees in Co. Kerry in south west Ireland, an area Keane visited frequently with her family growing up. Keane adds “It's a very special place to me, and I've always wanted to shoot there, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity."

Combining reflective electronics, acoustic samples, and haunting vocals with organic visuals, Fears invites the listener on an ethereal journey, blurring the boundaries between music and visual art. Her minimalist approach centres on emotive subjects, which are all-at-once deeply personal yet remarkably universal.

Her debut album Oíche, meaning ‘night’ in Irish, was recorded and produced in three bedrooms, a hospital, and most recently in Domino Recording studio in Brixton. Pieced together over five years, Oíche chronicles growth through challenges, instability, and relationship changes, both with one’s self and others. The album reveals itself much like a coming of age novel about the breaking apart of girlhood and rebuilding of a young woman.

Her minimalist approach centres on emotive subjects: her 2020 single ‘tonnta’ is about her grandmother’s battle with dementia. An intimate depiction of discovery, Fears' debut EP unearths internal dialogue, and makes peace with uncertainty.

Constance Keane is also a member of the intersectional, feminist, post-punk band M(h)aol, who recently released their well received debut EP, Gender Studies and co-runs the TULLE Collective women-led independent label that focuses on working with and for underrepresented voices in music.

Check out the beautiful video for '16' below:

Revisit Fears' On Our Radar Q&A here.

Song Credits:

Written by Fears
Produced by Fears and Joe Brown
Cello by Sophie Gwen Williams
Cello Recording by Cameron Stewart
Mastered by Huntley Miller
Artwork by Zoe Greenway

Video Credits:

Directed by Zoe Greenway
Assisted by Leigh Arthur, Colman Keane, and Ellen Goodwin
Special thanks to Ben Spillane.