Faye O’Rourke is the magnificent lead singer songwriter for the new alt-pop musical venture Soda Blonde, the band is made up of Dublin natives Adam O’Regan, Donagh Seaver O’Leary, and Dylan Lynch. Faye along with the guys were previously members of the internationally acclaimed Little Green Cars formed in 2008. The band released two albums, Absolute Zero (2013) and Ephemera (2016) and went on to tour in Ireland, the UK and the US, earning slots at prestigious festivals such as Coachella, South by Southwest and performing their single “Harper Lee” live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Unfortunately, Little Green Cars came to an end in 2019 but fortunately as quoted by the band “There is no love lost between us in our decision to disband”. This allowed Faye to span a new era with a new artistic style in Soda Blonde. The group got right to it with the release of their debut single “Swimming Through the Night” – an ambitious record which establishes their authority within the genre. The single is not only a glorious anthem, but also showcases Faye’s stunning artistic talent. One of the groups greatest achievements in starting over a new leaf is they have produced all aspects of their work in house including all visuals, it goes to show how much work is put into the artform. Within the short time the group has been together they have already released two EP’s Terrible Hands and Isolation – Content. Danny Kilmartin with Headstuff had this to say about Faye and the Debut EP Terrible Hands:
O’Rourke flexes her lyrical muscle with songs about defiance and perseverance in the face of adversity, on both the title track and ‘Don’t Mind Them’. Meanwhile, her yearning performance on the airy ‘Perfume’ serves as the EP’s clear highlight. Finally, closer ‘The New Lover’s Dance’ is as close as you can get to Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac without having Christine McVie in your band. Bright, touching, and impeccably arranged, Terrible Hands shows that sometimes hitting the reset button is for the best.
Check out Soda Blondes Terrible Hands video below.
Soda Blonde has garnered a loyal fanbase that have embraced the new sound, which seamlessly weaves together influences from Fleetwood Mac, Little Dragon and Kate Bush. The conclusion is an enticing genre of dreamy alt-pop. This new era of music has been written by Faye, from her early 20s, where she honed in on the unique lyrical style of imposing, hauntingly unique vocals marries the hard hitting, gritty kitchen-sink realism. It evokes the tragic beauty of Karen Carpenter and the pop sensibilities of Annie Lennox. As Faye puts it “You can move to the music”. It begins a new wave of pop that is both emotionally provoking and deeply satisfying. Coming off the back of a busy year for Faye having sold out the Grand Social with their first headline gig, she appeared on The Late, Late Show and has played at Forbidden Fruit and Knockanstockan festivals. The future looks very exciting and we cannot wait to see Faye perform at Wild Roots in 2021, Slán go fóill.
We hope you enjoyed this first entry to the women of Wild Roots blog series please stay tuned for many more blog entries in this series over the coming weeks.