Album Review: Nathan Connolly, The Strange Order Of Things

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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