Somebody’s Child isn’t about a particular person, or even about a particular band. It’s about music. And we reckon this music will be the soundtrack to your Summer
A group of indie-rock musicians who know how to write up-beat pop anthems, Somebody’s Child are creating a perfect storm of catchy music where distorted guitars and thudding bass blend beautifully with sing-along choruses and clap-along instrumentals. Their music resembles the potential result of James Bay and All Tvvins spending three months together in isolation...
This hot new act only emerged on the Irish music scene about 2 years ago, but they have been steadily making waves since. They began with a few, unadvertised, home-town shows to find their feet and they kept going at an incredible rate, getting regular radio play on TodayFM, a support slot with Kodaline and over 1 millions streams on Spotify. Now, they have just released a brand new single, 'Hold Me Like You Wanna', that you can stream on their Spotify HERE.
“The step up for the Kodaline gig was a big one! We had only ever played to 200 people before that and then we were playing at a sold out arena that holds 12,000. It’s a huge difference. Even the stage - it was like 15 times bigger than the stages we were used to playing on! So we had a nice bit of room to move. To be honest, we didn’t even know what to do with all the space!”
But these heady heights of massive live shows were not envisaged when front man and primary songwriter, Cian Goddo, began this project just a short time ago.
“I started with the intention of writing for other people. Lo and behold, you can’t really make much money selling songs to other people if you don’t have a credible name yourself. I needed live performances and to release music, so I needed a band! I was kinda shy. I had done two years or so on the Dublin pub circuit and it wasn’t really what I wanted from music. People aren’t there to listen to original music, they want songs they know. I just didn’t have much confidence going in to live performances again but, thankfully, the band are all amazing musicians. The way it developed live was great because that gave me the confidence to carry on, and now it’s a huge passion of mine; performing.”
The group have managed to write and release five singles since they formed, finding time between near-constant gigging to create little gems of indie-pop. Each single has its own distinct vibe, but the level of quality and catchiness never fluctuates. So how would they describe their sound?
“Ever changing! With singles, you can release whatever you want really as you haven’t committed to any style. And I just thought, why not experiment? For the next release, though, we are going to put out an EP. For the first time, I wanted to do something in a thematic sense.”
Somebody's Child have already displayed an impressive musical ability and ear for a hook, so there’s no knowing what they can do when they finally find their most suitable sound.
“As we developed, and my songwriting has as well, I’ve become more confident in what I want to create. It was quite a quick start to it all, it’s not like we were gigging around for two years and had that time to figure it out. So I kinda had to use releases as a method to discover who I was.”
As suppliers of good tunes, Somebody’s Child take influence from anything that sounds good and has an effect on people. The range of influences are particularly evident in their latest single, ‘Love That Sound’. Cian tells us what kind of music filters into his:
“I’m grounded in the indie-rock style, Arctic Monkeys were a big one for me. But I’ve listened to so many different varieties of artists down through the years. And now I try not to listen too much to any particular style as it filters too much into your songwriting then. The latest release has a wide spectrum of influences. It started off with a song, which I can’t even remember, but it was an ‘80s track and there was this repeated note in the bass rhythm. So we tried to replicate something with a similar vibe. But the chorus has this gospel sound and the guitar has a real Caribbean sound. It’s an interesting one. And it’s really fun to do that, to create without being confined to one particular genre.”
This truly is music for everybody. After all, in this time of unexpected focus on our basic necessities, what is more rudimentary than listening to something that brings fun and joy?
“Part of the reason I chose the name was so there could be anonymity to the words. And I hid my face at the beginning as well, for that reason, so it didn’t suggest that it was a male, female or even a band. It kind of encourages all people to be included.”
You can pass some time right now by treating your ears to their amazing singles - two of which are included in our playlist, The Irish Beat. Listen to, and follow, that playlist, HERE.
