Folk stars Villagers scoop Irish album award

Dublin indie folk band Villagers have won the Meteor Choice Prize for best album for their critically acclaimed 2013 record {Awayland}.

The band have shown potential and been a source of excitement among music fans since they formed in 2008. Their debut album, Becoming a Jackal, was also nominated for the Meteor Prize but was pipped at the post by Two Door Cinema Club.

Villages - Nothing Arrived
Villages – Nothing Arrived

Despite the success of their debut, songwriter Conor O’Brien was keen to move on and evolve. He said: “After two years of touring, I started feeling like the worst writer in the world. There wasn’t enough depth to maintain my interest every night. There’s no way I can sing “My love is selfish” a hundred time and it continue to feel pure and true.

“I felt, in a very childish way, I had romanticised sadness, and I was using the music to wallow. Even the acoustic guitar started sounding terrible to me.”

As he was writing the follow up album he broadened his horizons from folk rock to other genres such as epic soaring tunes and electronica. However, when the rest of the band got involved they were able to rein him in somewhat and the new album was able to be a clear evolution without being a total departure.

It was good news for Villagers’ fans who bought the album in their droves and sent it to the top of the Irish charts.

It received rave reviews and was nominated for the Mercury Prize as well as the Meteor Choice Prize.

At the Meteor Award ceremony O’Brien thanked fans for listening to his “weird little songs”.

They received €10,000 for winning best album and are likely to become better known and enjoy more ticket and album sales revenue in the future.


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By Michael Kehoe

Michael Kehoe is a writer for Irish Music Daily and Ireland Calling. His favourite Irish Music bands are Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys.