Moonlighting from his day job with perennial commercial and critical darlings Snow Patrol, Nathan Connolly’s solo debut mines much of the same musical territory. 

Indeed, ‘This Is All That I Don’t Feel’ and ‘Love Like Wildfire’ would both fit snugly on Snow Patrol’s magnum opus Eyes Open, possessing as they do finely layered, unforgettable soundscapes. Elsewhere, lead single ‘Fires’ – featuring Biffy Clyro dynamo Simon Neil – boasts an anthemic, fists-in-the-air chorus. No great surprise there: Connolly knows a thing or two about chart-topping songs, with ‘Chasing Cars’ gathering over 1 billion plays on Spotify.  

However, The Strange Order Of Things also finds Connolly shedding several skins. ‘Ghost’, featuring Hot Press favourite Ailbhe Reddy, is a decent chunk of pop-punk, while ‘We’ is a stripped-back slice of electro. The catchy ‘Heart Of Stone’, meanwhile, benefits from producer Rocky O’Reilly’s knack for bottling a band’s live energy.

Underpinned by portentous synths and a lo-fi drone, ‘Night Songs’ is similarly powerful, taking Connolly into more introspective territory. It’s another stand-out on a fine solo debut.

Score: 7/10
Listen: ‘Fires’

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