Tadhg Daly has released his new EP ‘Forever Young’.
Speaking of the EP Tadhg said: “As an EP, ‘Forever Young’ is a re-telling of the journey I’ve been on from being a real shy kid growing up on a small Island, to losing my way completely as a teenager and then trying desperately to turn my life around and create something for myself as an artist in London. Each song is incredibly close to my heart and I’m so proud of the end result. Writing and recording these songs with some of my best friends was the most cathartic process in some ways and in others, an incredibly painful walk through feelings and memories I had pent up for years, though ultimately I feel like so much weight has been lifted from me now that they are finished.
“I wrote and recorded it with my 2 producers and close mates Dustin Dooley and Andy Hall-Hall during lockdown in 2020 and I think how dearly we all care about the songs is what has made them so special for me and allowed them to be heard in the way that I had hoped. Although this is my debut EP and in many ways the first chapter of my music career, it really feels like closing the door on a lot of negativity, trauma and insecurities I’ve carried with me for years and I really hope it can give some other people a sense of peace when they listen to the record.”
To celebrate the EP release, Tadhg shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Forever Young’.
Bon Iver – Naeem | Listen via Spotify
Bon Iver is a huge influence for me and this song in particular just blows me away! The textures of the horns and all the drum layers create such an amazing world and that’s something we went for massively on the record particularly in the title track ‘Forever Young’.
Leon Bridges – River | Listen via Spotify
This song for me is an actual masterpiece. The acoustic guitar sound is stunning and was a big reference for us with the acoustic parts. Also the gospel-style backing vocals create a world in themselves and we tried to take that energy and put it throughout the record especially on ‘Still Not Made It’ and ‘Your Hearts Not In It’! We had my sister, both my producers, and a bunch of our mates come in and stack loads of backing vocals and it was such a laugh.
Maggie Rogers – Love You For A Long Time | Listen via Spotify
We didn’t necessarily reference this track for the making of the EP but I was listening to it so much whilst I was writing the songs for it. Maggie Rogers is one of my favourite songwriters/artists and I always feel super inspired after listening to her music. The lyrics in this song are so good and I love the dynamic and flow of the whole song from start to finish.
Jeff Buckley – Lover, You Should’ve Come Over | Listen via Spotify
This is one of my favourite songs of all time without a doubt. There is an eerie beauty to all of his music and this song embodies that energy perfectly. I can’t really put my finger on what it is about this song that inspires me specifically, but it just does. I feel so moved everytime I listen to it and I guess that’s something I want people that listen to my music to feel in some way. He’s one of the reasons I got into writing songs in the first place so he had to have a spot in this list!
Matt Maeson – Hallucinogenics | Listen via Spotify
One of the producers on the record, Andy, showed me this song in the studio one day and it actually blew me away. The lyrics, melody and production are all just so spot on and I immediately wanted to try and emulate some of that with my music. He has such a dope voice too and I must have listened to it like 20 times that week alone! The version with Lana Del Ray singing with him is insane too FYI!
You can stream Tadhg Daly’s EP ‘Forever Young’ via Spotify below: