Villagers Unveil New Song + Video for 'So Simpatico'

As the release of Villagers' fifth album Fever Dreams edges closer - due August 20th via Domino - Conor O'Brien is delighted to unveil the second song from the upcoming record. The new track, "So Simpatico," begins with twinkling glockenspiel and intimate vocals, before swelling to a transformative and mesmerizing refrain from O'Brien: "The more I know, the more I care".

Conor says of "So Simpatico": "It's a song of devotion; whether to a person, the self, or the art of being, a struggle for authenticity is at its core. We all jammed and recorded an early version with too many words and I took it home and simplified it until it was as pure an expression as possible. It's a pop song about the essence of love."

Director Rosie Barrett adds about the video: "So Simpatico is a journey of awakening and self-reflection of a sad clown finding love within himself and sparking that zest for life that was lost some time ago. Creating a visual narrative for this beautiful song was a joy as I have been long admiring Conor's music. I had the pleasure of working with a brilliant cast and crew in the making and I am very excited to see this video out in the world."

Fever Dreams is a paean to human connection. The songs on the album were found in many places, from connections at County Meath's Another Love Story festival and night swimming on a Dutch island to Flann O'Brien, Audre Lorde, David Lynch, L. S. Lowry via the library music of Piero Umiliani and Alessandro Alessandroni and jazz from Duke Ellington and Alice Coltrane. O'Brien says on the gestation of Fever Dreams: "I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself. Sometimes the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric, and escapist dreams."

There are 4 different album artworks for Fever Dreams, all related to the album's themes through constellations included in Ptolemy's 2nd-century list of 48 constellations: Ursa Major (bear), Aquila (eagle), Cassiopeia (elk) & Serpens (snake). O'Brien adds: "I think constellations as representations of how we search for shapes, meaning, and pattern in order to gain a sense of control over our existence and lives." View all the album covers here.

Fever Dreams follows The Art Of Pretending To Swim, Darling Arithmetic, {Awayland} and Becoming A Jackal. Conor O'Brien also has a string of accolades under his belt including two Ivor Novello Awards, two Mercury Music Prize nominations and is a previous winner of Ireland's Choice Music Prize. Additionally, Villagers' music has featured in the BBC/Hulu series Normal People and their Spotify session of "Nothing Arrived" has hit over 165 million streams.

Additionally, Villagers have announced a run of UK instore shows for August before they head out on their headline Irish and UK tour in autumn. Having already sold out two dates at Dublin's Vicar Street, a third has been added.

2021 Tour Dates

August 19th - Banquet Records, Kingston - Evening

August 20th - Rough Trade East, London - Sold Out

August 21st - Relevant Records, Cambridge - Lunchtime

August 21st - Resident Records, Brighton - Evening

August 22nd - Rough Trade Bristol, Bristol - Lunchtime

August 22nd - Truck, Oxford - Evening

August 23rd - Rough Trade Nottingham, Nottingham - Lunchtime

August 23rd - Vinyl Tap, Huddersfield - Evening

August 24th - Jumbo Records, Leeds - Lunchtime

August 24th - Action Records, Preston - Evening

August 27th - Down the Rabbit Hole Festival, Beuningen, Netherlands

August 28th - Burgerweeshuis, Deventer, Netherlands

October 12th - SWG3, Glasgow

October 13th - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

October 15th - Albert Hall, Manchester

October 16th - SWX, Bristol

October 17th - Junction, Cambridge

October 18th - The Glee Club, Birmingham

October 20th - Chalk, Brighton

October 21st - Roundhouse, London

November 2nd - Opera House, Cork

November 3rd - Set Theatre, Kilkenny - Sold Out

November 4th - Dolans Warehouse, Limerick - Sold Out

November 5th - Black Box, Galway - Sold Out

November 7th - Empire Music Hall, Belfast

December 11th - Vicar Street, Dublin - Sold Out

December 12th - Vicar Street, Dublin - Sold Out

December 13th - Vicar Street, Dublin

Fever Dreams is available to pre-order on Dom Mart exclusive colored vinyl (with one-sided 7" and signed 4 postcard set), indies exclusive colored vinyl, Dinked Editions exclusive colored vinyl (with flexi disc), Irish exclusive colored vinyl, vinyl, CD, and digitally. The initial press of all vinyl formats features a die-cut sleeve with 4 interchangeable album covers.

Photo Credit: Rich Gilligan

To post a comment, you must register and login.