Not a lot of people in their late twenties find themselves struggling with questions of mortality. Especially when they’re busy. 2024 saw Somebody’s Child open for the likes of The War On Drugs, Bloc Party and Kings Of Leon, as well as pack out their own shows, including a “bucket list moment” when they headlined the Olympia in their native Dublin.

Nonetheless, the last few years have been cause for some self-reflection of the temporal sort for frontman Cian Godfrey. The result is his band’s sophomore LP: the bursting and bittersweet pop-rock opus, When Youth Fades Away.

“That’s probably the reason I’m doing music in the first place, to be able to think about these things and reflect on them,” Godfrey says. “I definitely prioritise my own therapy when writing. I find that self-discovery is when I strike upon something I find interesting. The exploration of that is kind of where the album is.

“It’s the first time that we decided to do a concept. I think it’s a poignant feeling for the stage of life I’m in. What’s important to me is that people don’t see it as a coming of age record, but more so what happens after you come of age, and the feeling of uncertainty that goes along with that.

“I read this Bowie quote, ‘Ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been.’ That resonated with me a lot, because I feel you always know who you’re supposed to be, but age is the only thing that teaches you how to actually do it.”

When Youth Fades Away shows no signs of a second album slump. Perhaps that’s because the band are counting it as their third, after scrapping a record they were writing at the tail end of the pandemic.

It’s also because it’s a seriously good LP, juxtaposing anthemic choruses and driving, lush arrangements against strikingly mature and occasionally morbid lyrics.

In line with the band’s distaste for lazy comparisons, Godfrey is keen to be coy about their musical references, though he cites The Waterboys and Kraftwerk as two of five “pillars”.

Somebody’s Child went down to Bantry to pen the album, where the singer says they had a “breakthrough moment” and got their mojo back. The nomadism continued via a writing spell in Margate, and the recording was done with Grammy-winning producer Peter Katis at his live-in studio in Connecticut.

“It was a big moment for us when he agreed to do it,” Godfrey says. “Before that, we struggled to envision the album’s aesthetic, both sonically and visually. But as soon as we looked up the studio and saw that it was this massive Dutch Victorian house from the 1800s, the juices immediately started flowing.

“Environment was the only thing I cared about on this album. I realised the only thing you can actually control is the atmosphere of the environment, and the energy that you bring to the room. You have all the practice done already, so you’re just trying to zone out of the world, and zone into whatever is trying to come out.”

Surroundings have evidently had a big influence on Godfrey’s artistic development of late. Now based in London, the Dubliner left his hometown after “Covid took the creative juices away.”

“I have a strange relationship with Dublin, because I left on such good terms,” the Blackrock native reveals. “I don’t really have many friends left in Dublin anymore, I think it’s just part and parcel of the age I am. It’s not somewhere that I’d want to rent. I just think it’s extortionate.”

Godfrey also feels that it can be harder for non-mainstream artists to break through back home.

“And that’s why a lot of bands have to get some headway in the UK before they do so in Ireland,” he says. “Which is a real shame because I hear some new bands coming up and they’re so good, but I couldn’t imagine hearing them on daytime radio in Ireland.

“With the international impact we have – whether it’s Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Cillian Murphy, or Guinness surging in popularity in the UK – there’s a romanticising of Irish culture. That is largely down to rock bands. I think that should be reflected in what we promote across different media platforms.

“I don’t want to shit on anyone, because that’s not at all what I’m trying to say. I’d love to advocate for new music so the conveyor belt of talent continues.”

• When Youth Fades Away is out now.