By Daffs (TwoDaff)
London based, Irish indie rockers Hawke The Band are made up from Richie Power (Vocals, Keyboards), Eoghan MacMahon (Vocals, guitar) and Darragh McCarthy (Drums) with added session players on bass and lead guitar. Musical influences include; The Verve/Coldplay/Oasis/U2 and The Beatles. They try to combine these influences with modern sounds.
Formed behind Dublin’s Guinness Brewery in 2019 and then moving to London just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they found recording difficult but throughout 2021 released a run of singles including ‘Molly’ , ‘Gonna be Alright’ , ‘Limo’ . and ‘Pinch Me (Am i Dreaming)’. The band have played UK festival slots, playing alongside other young breakout acts such as Jake Bugg and Tom Grennan and received accolades from the likes of Aslan frontman Christy Dignam proclaiming them to be “The next big thing”.
Recently selling out gigs in Dublin, with a few gigs later in the year in the pipeline, things seem to be on the up for this band. In addition, they have recently signed a 5-song publishing deal recently. They are now due to release their latest single ‘Miracles’ due out on August 12th 2022.
Luckily, I was given a sneak preview of their latest offering prior to release. Opening with an almost ballad/folk like intro, “Does the future know no happiness” mournfully Richie leads in highlighted with keys and a clean guitar before the line “Sometimes it’s getting hard to know” and we’re off. The tempo changes, as does the mood. A driving rhythm lifts the whole song along with a catchy drum groove.
“A driving rhythm lifts the whole song”
Eoghan takes over the vocal for the chorus and you are lifted, “Cos I believe in miracles it’s all too plain to see”. Both vocalists really complement each other. There are hints of their Irish roots in both the vocal and instrumentals and these are intermingled with a guitar driven bounce that I find really uplifting, there is an underlying keyboard hook that really adds to the feeling, its subtle but noticeable and it really carries the chorus along.
“A guitar driven bounce”
The mid-section now and it’s driven by a meaty drumbeat laced with rhythm guitar strums and melodic leads and its still catchy, nothing taken away before that chorus lifts you again. It’s a really refreshing sound, no distortion, clean, anthemic, a crowd pleaser, a floor filler. Impressive! The whole song is triumph, filled with melodies that catch you, great vocals by both and with an anthemic, pleasing vibe it is sure to be a favourite. This is definitely another band that should not be overlooked and certainly one that I shall be exploring more.
Find out more about Hawke The Band here
