Leading the charge in a new breed of Irish hard rock, is a band called Vendetta Love, and prior to the release of their new EP, I Am on 18th August, is their latest single, ‘Hush Hush‘.
Speaking of the new single, vocalist, Shawn Mullen commented: “I don’t wanna ruin this song for anybody by giving away my reason for writing it, so I guess it’s up to the listener what it’s about. It really came to life in the studio.
“We’re all so happy with how this song turned out. I love Neil’s backing vocals towards the end. Very short, snappy vocals but they brought that section up a level. I’m pretty sure Darren (drums) gets pissed off anytime we don’t put it in the set too, and that man is a hard dude to please, so I think that says something. We’re really looking forward to people hearing this one.”
Guitarist, Chris Craig added: “From a musical standpoint, this track was already well wrapped-up long before I joined the band back in 2018, but when we started to jam it (with having the advantage of both guitars) I decided to throw in a little dual lead harmony on top of Shawn’s lead in the solo section.
“The intro on this is one of my favourites out of all our tunes, the bass really takes the lead for the first section and I’m nearly sure Neil (bass) nailed that in one take in the studio last summer.”
‘Hush Hush’ is available via this link. and you can check out the video here at RAMzine.
Previous single ‘Walk Alone’ is intended as a powerful statement addressing social issues surrounding the growing housing crises and substance abuse. Frontman/guitarist, Shawn Mullen, commented: ”That song was actually one of the quickest I’ve ever written. I think it took about 15 mins, and then I brought it to the boys later that evening and it was completed within an hour. One of those rare happenings when you just start writing and it writes itself!
“It explores the relationship between desolation and desperate hope through the medium of substance abuse, not having anywhere to go that you can call your safe place, and the tiny little hole in the ceiling where light comes through, but you’re not sure whether you’ll be able to reach it or not. All you have to do is look around you anytime you walk almost anywhere in Ireland. People are not happy and are not thriving.
“We’ve got the biggest housing crisis in living memory [In Ireland], and the divide between the so-called ‘classes’ is growing and growing. What we’re seeing and feeling is the result of all this greed and lack of empathy for one another. That definitely bore its way into my psyche when I was writing it.
“On the flip side of that, on a more personal level, a close relative had been destroying his mother and siblings with his drug use, someone who I’d watched closely since they were a baby. I was at the beginning of the end of a pretty tumultuous relationship all-the-while trying to keep my own use and abuse under wraps from most people around me, so I was kinda living in this vacuum of shit, like a feeling of homelessness anywhere I would normally consider home.”
You can listen to an audio link here and check out the video here at RAMzine.
Previous to that one, the band brought out the single ‘Ode’ and Shawn Mullen commented: “‘Ode’‘s maybe the second song we ever wrote. So it’s been around for a minute. We wrote it after our first gig in Dublin, in a venue [now gone] called The Gypsy Rose, and it’s been a live mainstay ever since. It’s just a simple rock n roll song about filthy gigs and meeting people. One person, in particular, for me.” You can check out the single here.
Vendetta Love come from Portlaoise, that’s referred to as “the midlands of Ireland” but their influences are from across the Atlantic, combining the anthemic brooding darkness of Seattle grunge, with the danger and excitement of LA’s Sunset Strip. A four piece, their influences range from Alice In Chains to Guns N’ Roses, and Stone Temple Pilots.
Previously, the band released ‘Blackened Hands‘, for their earlier EP titled Speak Now. Band member Namaste revealed of that recording: “We chose Speak Now as a title cos it’s pretty representative of where we’re at as a band. We feel like it’s our time to speak, to give our music to the world. It’s taken from a line in ‘What’s in the Blood?: ‘Speak now or forever hold your f**kin’ tongue.’ And that’s pretty much what we said to ourselves.
“It’s almost become a mantra for us. The writing for this EP happened over quite a long time, to be fair. ‘Follow Me Down’ and ‘What’s In The Blood’ are songs we’ve had since pretty early on” he added.
“We had a relatively large pool of songs to pick from too, so actually deciding what we wanted to put on the EP was a real ball breaker. I don’t know exactly if there’s a concept to it, but there’s definitely a theme of colours. Greens, dark reds, and purples. I don’t know if that makes any sense, but we’ve all kinda said it, between ourselves.
“Like a bunch of weird, colour gremlins. We recorded it over four days in Dublin’s Trackmix Studio. Getting to hear those songs grow track by track over the few days was almost like watching your kid grow. We can’t wait for everyone else to hear it.”
You can listen/buy new single ‘Blackened Hands’ here and another previous single ‘Witches & Thieves’ here and watch the official videos to both right here at RAMzine.
