There would be a lot of overlap of things we listen to across all genres, from MF DOOM, System of a Down, Sleaford Mods, Death Grips, Irish folk tunes to Ennio Morricone soundtracks. We’d argue it’s one of the rawest displays of emotion ever via music, up there with Nirvana’s In Utero. There’s a real comfortability in hearing them knowing you’re not the only one losing the plot at times. What is it about this album in particular that resonates with you?īesides how it sounded like nothing we had ever heard before… it drips with an authenticity that feels very rare in music these days. You have spoken of your admiration for Dublin’s Girl Band, particularly their debut album The Talkies. It wasn’t until 5months later that we gathered members to form as an official band in October 2019. Instantly we felt we had something special. Catching wind of the resurgence of post-punk music we thought to have a go ourselves at writing and about a month into it came ‘ Sofa Surfing’. It wasn’t until years later that we craved something more tangible than a 4/4 kick and manufactured happiness that lasts roughly 4hours. To learn more about Enola Gay, I had a chat with guitarist and lyricist Joe McVeigh.Ĭould you tell us a little about the background of Enola Gay and how the band came into existence?įionn Reilly (vocalist) and I met at a Chemical Brothers concert in Belfast back when we were wreck-heads who went out clubbing and partying days on end before going home to change.
‘ Through Men’s Eyes‘ is based on the Ulster Rugby rape trial held in their hometown of Belfast how it was handled, their disdain for lad culture and how the justice system is rigged against women. The astonishing debut single ‘ Birth of a Nation‘ was inspired by the Black Lives Matter protest at Belfast’s Custom House while ‘ Sofa Surfing‘ is a brutally honest reflection on homelessness and its impact on mental health. Enola Gay are confrontational and exhilarating. The dichotomy of the band’s name appears perfect with some thinking only of the song by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, while others will also be aware that this is the name of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped on Hiroshima with resulting incomprehensible destruction.
Their second single ‘Sofa Surfing’ made it onto the BBCRadio6Music’s Playlist with support from Steve Lamacq, no mean feat for the Belfast band. 4 in the UK.Enola Gay are creating some noise. Their renewed creative collaboration has led to concert tours and three new albums, 2010’s History of Modern, 2013’s English Electric and 2017’s The Punishment of Luxury, which reached No.
In 1985, director John Hughes asked OMD to contribute a song to the soundtrack of his forthcoming movie Pretty in Pink.Dazzle Ships, from 1983, was the most commercially successful, reaching No. OMD continued to release albums at a steady clip, with LPs coming every year from 1983 to 1886 as the band’s sound moved closer to mainstream pop.3 in the UK and yielded three Top 5 singles: “Souvenir”, “Joan of Arc” and “Maid of Orleans (The Waltz of Joan of Arc)”.
The group’s third album, 1981’s Architecture & Morality, is considered a synth-pop landmark.OMD’s second album, 1980’s Organisation, included the single “Enola Gay”, which reached No.They soon became full-time members of OMD. The band’s self-titled 1980 debut album went Top 30 in the UK and included contributions from keyboardist Martin Cooper and drummer Malcolm Holmes, both former bandmates from a previous group.They released their first single, “Electricity”, in 1979. Formed as a duo in 1978 by school friends Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, OMD was the latest in a string of groups the two had played in around Merseyside, England.They’re best known in the US for their 1986 song “If You Leave”, recorded for the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. One of the earliest and most successful UK synth-pop acts, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark have scored seven Top 10 singles in their home country.