The Mary Wallopers have spoken to NME about using their “heavier” and most original album yet, ‘Paddywhackery’, to chronicle the isolation of living as an outsider in England. Check out new single ‘Landlord’s Demise’ below, exclusively on NME, along with the full interview.
The raucous Irish rebel folk band will release their third studio record on September 18 (pre-order here). Recorded with The Coral’s James Skelly in two weeks, the project marks a step up from their 2022 self-titled debut and the following year’s ‘Irish Rock N Roll’, both of which leaned on traditional Irish songs and ballads.
Hailing from Dundalk, County Louth, the band are led by brothers and co-frontmen Charles and Andrew Hendy. Thanks to the rowdy energy of their live shows, and a number of eye-catching TV and online performances, their profile has risen to the point that the tour in support of ‘Paddywhackery’ will see them headline venues from London’s Brixton Academy to Dublin’s 3Arena.
Although the group are still primarily based in Dundalk, lead single ‘Crowns Of England’ details the strange displacement and detachment they have experienced in England, depicting a country mired in misty-eyed nostalgia for a half-understood history. Its video stars Danielle Galligan (House Of Guinness) as an Irish woman wandering from one pub named The Crown to another, each one adorned with Winston Churchill imagery.
The Mary Wallopers are no strangers to speaking their minds politically. Last year, their set at Victorious Festival was cut off almost before it began, with event organisers removing a Palestinian flag from their stage setup and cutting off their sound. The band were later accused of leading a “discriminatory chant”, although they countered this with their own video footage, which appeared to contradict the claim. The festival later issued an apology.
NME spoke to Andrew Hendy about the band’s reflection on that controversy, how it made the festival “look very bad”, and why he’s not shying away from “saying something that’s right”.
It comes as Hendy and co. share their latest track, ‘Landlord’s Demise’ – “a song about the fall of empire in Ireland, and an expression of our disdain for the Landlord Class”.
“It’s based on a true story about a Manor House falling down around its aristocratic owner, and is also inspired by Tom Barry’s book Guerilla Days In Ireland,” he said. “It’s a song for all the struggling renters, in dingy flats and mould-infested bathrooms, living in fear of another rent hike.”
Read on for the rest of the interview, where Hendy also discussed The Mary Wallopers’ “heavier and more uptempo” new songs, “capturing that raw energy” of their live shows, “going to the country that did the colonising”, and more.