Villagers – Fever Dreams

Vulnerability has always been Conor O'Brien's strength. Villagers exist in the space that measures the distance between the Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter's confidence and his uncertainty. The moments of pleasure born in the gaps between this unknowing knowing are the times when Villagers' best music kisses the sky. 

Think back ten years and his startling performance of Becoming a Jackal on Later... with Jools Holland and calculate the miles travelled between that edgy acoustic delivery and the Marvin Gaye-fronts-The-Flaming-Lips vibe of the sensational So Simpatico from new record, Fever Dreams. That's what great artists do with age: get better.

Like recent collaborator Paul Weller, O'Brien is like a shark swimming among a shoal of songs: he'll bite at whatever he sees first, take a chunk and move onto the next thing. In truth, that's led Villagers' records away from the mainstream and into the reflections of some deep, dark and truthful mirrors. But when said shadows bring forth songs as strong as the deliciously dense Song In Seven or the delicately bruised Full Faith In Providence, the rewards are clear to hear. 'May the road rise to meet you', he sings in the latter and it's a touching moment that brings together a record imbued with full faith in the minor masterpieces that dominate Villagers' fifth studio album. 

Listen to: So Simpatico, Full Faith In Providence