NewDad - Altar

For a band with songs that scream so loudly in quiet ways, NewDad still feel like one of the most underrated acts around. ‘Altar’, their second album, doesn’t try to fix that: it just gets on with being brilliant.

Moving between whispered vulnerability and righteous rage, ‘Altar’ captures the push-and-pull of growing up, moving away and learning how to scream into the void without losing your voice. Opener ‘Other Side’ sets the mood: gentle and quietly longing. From there, the band unspool a dreamworld that’s half 90s alt-radio, half hazy teenage diary. ‘Pretty’ shimmers like The Cure lost in a bedroom daydream, while ‘Sinking Kind of Feeling’ is a gut punch for anyone who’s ever sat in sadness with no idea what to do next.

‘Roobosh’ is the firecracker, a cathartic scream buried in a squall of distortion – angry, and just a bit fun. ‘Heavyweight’ advocates for emotional honesty with a tongue slightly in cheek, while ‘Entertainer’ and ‘Misery’ pick apart people-pleasing and existential burnout.

There’s a lot of Ireland in this record, even from a band now firmly rooted in London. You can hear the homesickness in the lyrics, and the fresh air of Galway in the more serene moments – a constant yearning for somewhere quieter, kinder.

‘Altar’ might be about sacrifice, but NewDad have given up none of their magic; if anything, they’ve honed it. They have the songs, the sound, the story – and on ‘Altar’, they’ve delivered a record with the kind of emotional weight and sonic identity most bands take years to find. If you’ve slept on them so far, now’s the time to wake up.