Dublin act Come On Live Long’s comeback brings with it evolution, and a stunning new album

FOUR YEARS after the release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Everything Fall’, and with an ocean of water under the bridge, Dubliners Come On Live Long formalise their return next week with the official launch of a follow up, ‘In The Still’.

The four-piece are an eclectic lot, seemingly grabbing their inspiration from old-school fuzzy jazz tracks, delicate, fashionable beats and gentle pop sensibilities all at the same time. Their style’s become ever more creative, and in ‘In The Still’, they’ve taken directly from their surrounds, drawing on a series of imaginative samples and playful field recordings.

Since the last album, vocalist Rob Ardiff spent six weeks in Paris producing a solo EP, and became a father. Bassist Ken McCabe relocated to Malta for a while and worked as a producer on a number of records, not least Loah’s highly-acclaimed new album, and also left the country for two years to complete a teaching qualification. Keyboard player Louise Gaffney created music videos for sadly-deceased pianist Conor Walsh. A real contributor to the new record, then, is the bringing together of their varied recent lives.

“We got together for a weekend jamming, and we had an absolute tonne of material,” McCabe told the Gazette of the process. “We almost had an album from that one weekend,” Ardiff continues. “There were a couple of tracks written later in the studio, but  a lot of it was there straight away. A lot of the songs were quite individual projects, written away from the band. They were less jammed out than the first album; we just jammed together to finish it off.”

“It’s really hard ducking in and out of music,” Ardiff said of the time away. “That’s why we all had our own things going on, though. Music’s really good for mental health, definitely in my case. If I wasn’t writing music I’d be losing my mind.”