After releasing two widely acclaimed EPs over 2019 and 2020, Dublin-based alt-pop quartet Soda Blonde are back with news of their eagerly-awaited debut album, Small Talk. 

Due for release this summer, the entirely self-produced record sees the group reflecting on their twenty-something experiences with refreshingly honest transparency. If the title track is anything to go on, the world is in for a real treat with Small Talk. Driven forward by a subtle yet steady beat and anchored by lead singer Faye O'Rourke's rooted, impeccably controlled vocal, the lyrical tension in the track is represented and recreated in its sonic palette.

"'Small Talk' is an example of a song that changed shape innumerable times," says Adam O'Regan. "Faye first sang it for us in a rented rehearsal space In 2016, and immediately we were hooked. Our first instinct was to draw on Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreaks. We wanted to create an instrumental that was both 80s nostalgia while still being rooted firmly in the present."

"'Small Talk' is about rejection in its many forms," adds O'Rourke. "The song begins by leading the listener to believe it’s about a failed or failing relationship when in fact, it details the self-destructive dialogue inside someone’s own head.

"In a broader sense, I am addressing the idea of optical virtue over the reality of how we treat those around us. We’re seeing this concept more and more today by the application of social media to achieve fast-food activism.

"More than anything, I wrote this song in order to question my own personal motivations and short-comings, and how I fit into the virtual hybrid of life today. Where I arrive at is that it’s always good to question everything, including and most importantly, one's self."

Listen to 'Small Talk' below.

Never ones to do anything by halves, the band are also announcing tour dates for an Autumn tour of Ireland and the UK.

Check out their tour dates below. Tickets are on sale now.

August 13 - 15: Wild Roots Festival, Sligo, Ireland
August 27 + 28: SoFFT Nights, Co.Meath, Ireland
September 08: Mike the Pies, Co.Kerry, Ireland
September 09: Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland
September 10: Dolans Warehouse, Co.Limerick, Ireland
September 11: Roisin Dubh, Galway, Ireland
September 12: Whelan’s, Dublin Ireland
September 19: Belfast Empire Music Hall, Belfast, UK
September 21: Broadcast, Glasgow, UK
September 22: YES, Manchester, UK
September 23: Sebright Arms, London, UK
July 17, 2022: Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, Ireland (with Sinead O’Connor)