a lazarus soul join THE THE for Wider Than Pictures at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin.
The 2024 Wider Than Pictures line-up is shaping up to be one of the most incredible and diverse weeks of music this year to Dublin, with James Blunt, THE THE, Deacon Blue and Gossip all headlining across the last week in August.
Formed by songwriter and vocalist Brian Brannigan, a lazarus soul released their first three albums – ALSRecord (2001), Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars (2007) and Through a Window in the Sunshine Room (2011) with a revolving cast of musicians.
Then, in 2011, the current lineup of Anton Hegarty, Julie Bienvenu and Joe Chester joined Brannigan for a tribute show to The Fall, performing ‘Contraflow’ and ‘Mark’ll Sink Us’. They have now been together for 13 years, releasing a further three albums: Last of the Analogue Age (2014) and The D They Put Between the R & L(2019). New material is eagerly anticipated.
a lazarus soul have been much-lauded with their albums routinely topping end-of-year polls. Last Of The Analogue Age was included in the Sunday Times list of the best Irish albums of all time while Cillian Murphy and Craig Charles featured The D They Put Between the R & L on BBC 6 Music.
That album’s second single, ‘Long Balconies’, a tale of runaway gentrification and failed regeneration in Ireland, seemed to capture the zeitgeist of a country struggling to house its citizens and became an anthem of sorts for the band. It was featured in the film The Francis Street Photographer and its lyrics were quoted by Dublin historian Donal Fallon (Three Castles Burning) in his book, 14 Henrietta Street.
They have shared the stage with Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny, Damien Dempsey and The Frames, among many others and played sold-out headline shows at Whelan’s, The Button Factory, The Doolin Folk Festival, Royal Hospital Kilmainham and, in 2023, emerged from recording sessions to preview new material at their headline show at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
In recent years, Christy Moore, who has become a good friend and champion of the band, has been covering ‘Lemon 7s’ and ‘Black & Amber’ at his own shows. For Those I Love who namechecked the group, along with The Dubliners and the Pogues on their 2021 Choice award winning eponymous album.