NewDad

Formed in Galway on Ireland’s west coast, NewDad are an indie rock quartet comprising singer-guitarist Julie Dawson, bassist Áindle O’Beirn, guitarist Sean O’Dowd, and drummer Fiachra Parslow. The band emerged in the late 2010s with self-produced tracks shared online before finding their place on the Irish and UK independent scenes. NewDad’s music sits at the crossroads of dream pop, alternative rock, and shoegaze, with overdriven yet airy guitars, a restrained rhythm section, and melancholic vocal lines that explore relationships, anxiety, and disillusionment. In 2021, NewDad released their first EP, Waves, which established this hazy, melodic aesthetic, followed in 2022 by the darker, more direct EP Banshee. The project then took a step forward with Madra, their debut studio album released in 2024, expanding the band’s sonic palette while retaining Julie Dawson’s introspective writing and NewDad’s hallmark balance between tension and drift.