The tolling of bells opens Seán Mulrooney’s rather fantastic debut album, This Is My Prayer. The title-track doubles as a call to arms, as he moves on from Tau & The Drones Of Praise, the psychedelic folk collective he fronted for over two decades.

“That’s exactly what it is,” Seán agrees, whilst strolling through bucolic Wicklow on an early spring morning, “It’s a reclamation of personal power – we always have the power to change and defend our prayer. In Irish, you might call it Dán. Everybody has a Dán, a mission, and there’s a solid purpose to be here. Sometimes life for whatever reason gets in the way, but then it’s like, ‘No, this is why I’m here.’”

In December 2023, Seán released ‘No Two Sides’, a declamatory single, in which he sings: “There can be no justification for this occupation / This is not a war / This is genocide”. The song served as catalyst for Sean to follow his own personal Dán.

“‘No Two Sides’ was an absolutely illuminating process,” he expands. “Because I did something that was way, way greater than me. It just gave me a real inspiration to keep going, and to release some music that would be very different to what I’ve done before.”

Following devastating heartbreak (stoutly depicted on the dolorously powerful ‘Soul Seer’), Seán decamped to a cabin in the Wicklow hills in January 2023, and began scribbling songs that would form the skeleton of This Is My Prayer.

“Palestine was the big catalyst to release stuff under my own name for the first time,” he explains. “Then on December 21st, the winter solstice, me and my partner, we uncoupled, and that began a very, very deep period of introspection. I was very lucky to be able to channel that grief and heartbreak into a bunch of songs, which came together in a very mysterious way.

“It was profound and I was able to feel things I never had felt before, as in emotions. There were times when I really was able to feel the amount of love and loss at the same time. I don’t even really remember January.”

Indeed, certain tracks on This Is My Prayer – such as ‘Jaguar Dreams’ and the brilliant second single ‘The Pufferfish’ – teeter between this realm and the world of dreams, or at least the wonderful subconscious of Seán Mulrooney. It’s a world where dolphins get high on pufferfish secretion and orcas transmute, all to a delightful soundtrack that’s equal parts Ringo Starr, Daniel Johnston and Flaming Lips.

“We have animal guardians,” Seán suggests. “Each animal has their own medicine and an absolutely unlimited amount of things to teach us. Animals come up in my music all the time, and no better animal than the pufferfish. It’s the only song on the album that’s old; it was recorded 12 years ago. I don’t sing like that anymore. I always wanted to release it – it didn’t really fit any other projects, but it fit this one.”

The album was recorded with former Tao members – multi-instrumentalist Earl Harvin and Japanese bassist Daigo – in the salubrious surrounds of a French chateau at La Briche Audio. Elsewhere, Maitiú Ó Cascaide from The Bonny Men performs a wonderful turn on lead single ‘Ag Múscliaghacht’.

There’s also a powerful spoken word piece on ‘Breath Of Fire’, delivered by someone whom Sean prefers to remain anonymous. Still, he does offer a brief description.

“He’s an elder and a very special bard I knew very well who passed away,” says Sean. “He was an incredible Gaeilgeoir, and I thought I would honour him and his wisdom by putting his voice on that tune.”

• This Is My Prayer is out now.