Louis Brennan (Full Band Show) LIVE at The Sound Lounge
London-based Dubliner Louis Brennan is a singer-songwriter in the folk tradition. His folk however aren’t the field hands and travelling minstrels of yore but the repressed middle managers and ennui-ridden urbanites of late-stage capitalism. They populate tales of bad sex, half-drunk commutes and interpersonal claustrophobia delivered in Brennan’s cracked baritone, at times embarrassingly intimate, at times spuriously broad, peppered with pitch-black humour.
Brennan’s debut album 'Dead Capital' was released in 2018 and awarded 9/10 by Americana Uk who called it "an outstanding album; deep, dark and demanding of attention" It garnered favourable comparisons to Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark and Leonard Cohen. A handful of standalone singles included the duet ‘A Full House’ with AMAUK award winning Michele Stodart of The Magic Numbers, described by Holler as "Another jaw-dropper from the singer that gave us the beautiful 'Black Limousine' earlier this year." It received radio support from Ralph McLean, Bob Harris, Lonesome Highway and other stalwarts of the UK country and Americana scene.
His eagerly awaited second full length LP 'Love Island', recorded mid-pandemic at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at Abbey Road was released in October 2022 and has been called “An essential album for our times” by Lonesome Highway, with Brennan’s sharp tongue delving further into his dystopian vision of society The title track, a scathing indictment of ‘love in the time of datasets’ was chosen as the title track of BBC film ‘Quiet Life’ directed by Emmy nominated director Ruth Pickett.
Brennan has performed at The Ramblin Roots Revue, Red Rooster Festival, Folk In The Park and Americanafest UK as well as supporting award-winning artists such as Hannah White and Arborist and has begun to forge a reputation on the roots music circuit as part of a loose collective of some of London's finest songwriters and musicians, selling out the iconic Wilton's music hall as part of a songwriter's circle and appearing at two sold out shows at London's Jazz Cafe in tribute to the late, great John Prine.
In March 2024, Brennan headed out on tour in Germany with A.S.Fanning as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24, a celebration of contemporary Irish arts supported by Culture Ireland before receiving further support from Culture Ireland to tour Italy in April. With work on a new record underway, Brennan is due performed at the prestigious Static Roots Festival and Dresden’s legendary Sommer Palais series of concerts in Germany this summer.
