EMI

London’s (via Limerick) premiere indie songsmiths, whenyoung have announced they will be releasing their highly anticipated debut album, ‘Reasons to Dream’, through Virgin EMI on the 24th May.

The culmination of years of playing and writing together, ‘Reasons to Dream’ showcases Aoife Power’s (bass/vocals), Niall Burns’ (guitar) and Andrew Flood’s (Drums) ability to craft spikey yet melodic songs which delve lyrically into everything from love and insecurities to pacificism and the gap between the haves and have-nots in Britain today.

The album marks the next milestone in a journey that started for the band when they first met as teenagers in Limerick, Ireland. After playing in separate bands around the local scene for several years, they eventually all found themselves in London and the band that was to become whenyoung was formed, inspired by a heathy mix of the music they all loved their favourite classic cinema and literature.

Since then the band have gone from strength to strength, gaining the support of BBC Radio 1 Introducing, gracing stages at festivals everywhere from the Great Escape in Brighton to Reeperbahn in Germany and touring up and down the UK and Ireland. They were guests at Shane McGowen’s 60th birthday, Supported Nick Cave in Dublin and were invited to play at the Barbican centre in London as part of a celebration of Ireland’s rich cultural legacy. 2019 looks set to be the year the band break into the wider consciousness, with the release of their debut, their first American shows (including several at the prestigious South by South West Festival) and a plethora of other international shows.

After touring throughout most of 2017 and 2018 with STRFKR, Cults, and Of Montreal, the band returned home and went straight into renowned Portland studio Jackpot to record their sophomore LP, VALIS. Titled after the 1981 Philip K. Dick novel, VALIS is a cohesive collection of songs unified in sound and structure and supported by recurring lyrical themes, consistent with Reptaliens’ sound: 80’s analog synthesizers, tape delay echos, and a dreamy blend of guitar lines which ebb and flow throughout Bambi’s melodies. Tracks like “Shuggie 2” and “Sunrise, Sunset” are phantasmagoric, breezy and minimal, resulting in an intimate and personal atmosphere in which the listener can ruminate. Yet, the dynamism of VALIS comes from a balance between the band’s more introspective tracks with kinetic synth pop songs such as “Echo Park” and “Give Me Your Love” and and the upbeat guitar driven tracks “Venetian Blinds” and “Baby Come Home”.

With FM-2030, Reptaliens divulged tales from an etic: outsiders perspective of cult kidnappings, alien abductions, and sci-fi speculations towards potential future realities. In VALIS, the lense is turned inwards and, through the looking glass, the 12 tracks provides an emic glimpse towards the feelings and situations of the subjective experience.