a lazarus soul

A Lazarus Soul (Brian Brannigan, Joe Chester, Julie Bienvenu & Anton Hegarty). They bring their unique brand of raw, genuine, unmistakably Dublin inspired story telling to an Irish music scene characterised, as ever, by a burgeoning range of eclectic talent pushing the envelope in every conceivable direction. Songwriter Brian Brannigan rejoins the fold at a time when reflecting social issues through art with a very personal fire that cannot be ignored is more important than ever.

BIOGRAPHY

Brian Brannigan was nicknamed Lazarus by his mother. She was told he wouldn’t survive at birth & when he did, he was diagnosed with a form of Spina bifida. He pulled through major surgery early in life, only to be diagnosed with cancer in his teens. A mixture of good fortune & surgery saved him again. However this trauma had a huge effect on a young mind & songwriting became his coping mechanism, his way of figuring out the world. His songs became those of A Lazarus Soul & Brannigan has gone on to build a reputation as one of Ireland’s finest lyrical commentators.

The first 3 ALS albums, ALSRecord (2001), Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars (2007), Through a Window in the Sunshine Room had revolving cast of musicians from other Irish bands including 10 Speed Racer, Mexican Pets, Future Kings of Spain, Sunbear & Rollerskate Skinny. However, they all heavily featured the music of, and were produced and arranged by, one of Ireland's finest producers / musicians, Joe Chester.

After becoming a father, Brannigan all but quit playing live until he was asked (at a 2 year old’s birthday party) to play a tribute gig to his hero, Mark E Smith. He asked Joe, Julie Bienvenu (Lines Drawing Circles) & Anton Hegarty (Future Kings & ALS stalwart since “Graveyard” days) to accompany him. With only an hour’s rehearsal, something very special happened in Stoneybatter that night, the line-up of ALS solidified.

Together they released “Last of the Analogue Age” in late 2014. It was made album of the week by John Meagher (Newstalk), Alan Jacques (Limerick Live95) & Dan Hegarty (2FM). It was included in many end of year top ten including the Irish Independent & Newstalk. It was album of the year for Tom Dunne (Newstalk), Alan Jacques (Limerick 95) & Paul Page (Between The Bars blog / Whipping Boy).

The same year, ALS was invited to play live on RTE Radio 1’s Arena, Other Voices Music Trail & Newstalk’s Pet Sounds end of year broadcast. They were also invited to play the Abbey Theatre, where they stunned a packed theatre with a rendition of the Midday Class.

They were included in Tom Dunne’s / Sunday Times’ 100 Irish Albums To Love in 2017.

NEWS

a lazarus soul - No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens [LP]

€26.00

a lazarus soul - No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens [CD]

€17.00

26.03.2024 | NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT

No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens

On July 5th, 2024 Bohemia Records release, “No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens,” the long-awaited new album from a lazarus soul. It will be preceded on April 5th by the first single from the album, “The Flower I Flung Into Her Grave”.

The album is the follow-up to 2019’s much-loved “The D They Put Between the R & L,”

After a long gestation period, the band (Brian Brannigan, Anton Hegarty, Julie Bienvenu & Joe Chester, half of whom live in Ireland, half in France) convened in Miracle Studios, Rennes, for four days of intensive recording, live, together in a single room, their first opportunity to do so since global events had kept them apart for two years. The session, a fury of largely improvised and incendiary versions of ten brand new Brannigan-penned songs, forms the basis of this new record which also features guest contributions from legendary violinist, Steve Wickham.

The album was recorded and mixed in France by Joe Chester.

“No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens,” (named after a line from The Fall’s “Psykick Dancehall,” aptly, as this line-up of a lazarus soul came together specifically for a 2011 tribute to that band) is a meditation on wilderness, nature and spirit.

Brannigan’s lyrics, written during long walks across the Bog of Allen and along the Royal canal, have never been more masterful, reaching new heights of visceral, unflinching song-writing. Brannigan is at the peak of his powers here, capable of turning from eviscerating fury to unexpected moments of tenderness and heartbreak in a single couplet. Songs of police brutality (Black Maria) sit side by side with loving portraits of Moore Street dealers (The Dealers) and thrilling blow-by-blow accounts of three-day benders, worthy of Flann O’Brien (Wildflowers). There is humanity at the heart of all of these songs, even the vicious teacher, meeting out physical abuse on his pupils finds some kind of understanding in Factory Fada.

Musically, “No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens,” is the sound of a band on fire, unleashed after a long period of separation. It is the sound of a band relishing being together once more. Importantly, for a record about wildness, it is a fiercely honest record, made in an old-fashioned way with as little technological interference as possible. Like many of their favourite records, you can hear the mistakes. The approach pays off, especially on GIM, which blossomed from first hearing to the recorded version in just two hours. From the thrilling garage drums and bass of opener, Black Maria, to the sparkling electric guitar lines of The Flower I Flung Into Her Grave, The Dealers’ acoustic guitars and strings, the wild harmonium and bowed guitars of Wildflowers, to the dreamy Diver Walsh and the Sonic Youth-meets-Richard Thompson Factory Fada, this is surely the band’s most musically ambitious record to date.

TRACKLIST