Dublin six-piece Madra Salach announce debut album 'Gorta'

Dublin six-piece Madra Salach have announced their debut album Gorta, set for release on 15 January 2027 via Island Records.

The record is led by recent single ‘Ribbon Factory’, which arrived last week and offers the first glimpse of the band’s darker, expanded take on Irish traditional music. Taking its title from the Irish word for ‘hunger’, Gorta looks at inheritance, longing and the things passed down through generations, with the band pushing folk instrumentation into heavier and more experimental territory.

Frontman and lyricist Paul Banks says the album began from a personal place, before opening out into broader questions of Irish history and identity. “I usually write from personal experience,” he explains. “I try not to go too big-picture. I can tap into the emotions that way.” He adds: “The ideas of longing and yearning, all the kinds of hunger, they slot into where we are as 21st century Irish people. The more I’ve thought and written about Irishness, the more I’ve seen how strange a history and a position and a culture we have.”

Written collectively by all six members, Gorta was recorded live as a full band, aiming to preserve the physical charge of Madra Salach’s increasingly talked-about live shows. The album was produced in New York by Loren Humphrey, whose recent credits include Westside Cowboy and Cameron Winter. Its artwork, created by Oscar Torrans, features a Blemmyes, a headless figure from ancient legend whose face appears in its chest.

The announcement follows a busy year for the band, whose debut EP It’s a Hell of an Age reached No. 3 on the Irish Albums Chart and entered the Top 10 of the UK Official Independent Albums Chart. Since then, they have played festivals including The Great Escape, End of the Road, Primavera, Latitude, Roskilde and Green Man, and are currently on a sold-out UK headline tour, including two nights at London’s Electric Ballroom.

Madra Salach will also appear on Later… with Jools Holland later this month, before continuing with sold-out dates in Ireland and North America. Next year, they are set to appear at Rockaway Beach and Primavera, as well as supporting Fontaines D.C. at Slane Castle in June.

Gorta is out 15 January 2027 via Island Records.