Hailing from the small village of Kilcoole on the east coast of Ireland, Enemies spent the latter years of the 2000s honing a unique style of intricate, instrumental, technicolour guitar music.
With the release of debut album ‘We’ve Been Talking’ in 2009, the band staked their claim as heavy hitters on the international math/post-rock scene. Prior to the album’s release, the band had been signed to Japanese label Machupicchu Indistrias and had toured Japan in support of math-rock royalty Toe.
Enemies became part of Irish indie label Richter Collective, forging close friendships and
tearing-up festival tents with And So I Watch You From Afar and Adebisi Shank. They toured frequently across Europe and Asia. The band gradually caught the attention of alternative labels across the US, and in 2013 signed to Topshelf Records for their second album; the appropriately-titled ‘Embark, Embrace’. Extensive tours of the US, Europe and Asia would follow.
Enemies continued touring and performing at festivals across Europe and North America from 2013 until 2016. Memorable sets include appearances at SXSW, CMJ New York and ArcTanGent.
In 2016, having toured the US coast-to-coast, the band announced that their third album ‘Valuables’ would be their last. Enemies finished off 2016 with their largest ever Irish show at Dublin’s Vicar Street.
Writing for The Thin Air, Eoin Murray described the event as “a triumph; one of those gigs where every exchange between the audience and the performers felt sincere and purposeful.”
‘Valuables’ was critically acclaimed and seen as “a fully realised collection from a group who have left a brilliant mark on Ireland’s independent music scene.”
A statement from Enemies
What started this whole reunion idea? It’s simple: we missed having fun with each other. We missed our friendships, our laughter, our flow, our songs.
We missed the goofy, hyperactive energy that we felt when we jammed in a room together.
In short, we missed our band.
With maturity, time and distance we’ve developed a heightened appreciation for the chemistry between the four of us, and just how special it was.
We were lucky to find each other in 2007, and to create that kind of joyous noise together. We decided to see how it would feel to hang out and play those songs again; without any of the agendas or pressures that broke us apart. To go back to basics.
Playing together, just for fun. Hanging out and being dumb friends again.
A Dublin show — and more importantly a Button Factory show — feels like an exciting way to get back to this thing. A way to get back in front of those who still celebrate and throw love towards our weird little band.
We can’t wait to see you again.
Eoin, Lewis, Mark and Oisín x