NewDad‘s Julie Dawson has launched her solo side project with new single, ‘Silly Little Song’.
Dawson is the lead singer of the Galway-formed band, and while the former NME Cover stars are on hiatus between albums, connected with producer Jack Hamill – also known as Spice Dimension Controller – to realise her songwriting abilities in a different, more otherworldly context.
‘Silly Little Song’ is the first single to come out of that effort. On it, Dawson contemplates love and deception, signing: “I take you to my bedroom, I tell you little lies and then I’ll cry, and I take to the ocean, cast you in the tide, but you won’t mind, and I take you to the graveyard, you can have your turn burying me in the earth.”
Per a press release, Dawson met producer Hamill through their mutual friend Dan Foat, who was aware both artists wanted to try something new.
They began trading WhatsApp messages, with Dawson working from instrumentals Hamill sent, and she was soon clocking in at Roundhouse studios for late-night recording sessions.
In a post announcing her debut single on Instagram, Dawson described the collaboration as “beautiful” and “therapeutic”, explaining that she used this song – and “possibly” some others – “as a space to try things I normally wouldn’t when writing”.
Although the two initially joined forces to work solely on a few tracks, both found the process so fluid that they quickly developed a bigger body of work that stepped outside their typical sound. Both aimed to create more of a cinematic feel to the songs, and looked to film and TV for inspiration rather than mining their past experiences.
In July, Dawson discussed NewDad’s next steps with NME, saying: “We’ve been doing a lot of writing. I don’t think we’ve really figured out where we’re going but we have a lot of great songs that we’re just trying to nail down.
“We are so busy with live shows at the moment, but hopefully after Christmas we will be able to get back into the studio. We are writing some really good tunes. I am so, so excited for the next step.”
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