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Paddy Hanna

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Paddy Hanna is one of Ireland’s most distinctive and idiosyncratic songwriters. Emerging as frontman of cult Dublin indie outfit Grand Pocket Orchestra, Hanna has since carved out a singular solo career built on timeless melodies, dark humour, theatrical arrangements and an unmistakable voice.

Across acclaimed albums including Leafy Stiletto, Frankly, I Mutate, The Hill and Imagine I’m Hoping, he has earned widespread praise while counting Fontaines D.C. and the late Burt Bacharach among his admirers. Hanna toured Ireland with Bacharach in 2019, an experience that left a lasting impression on his music.

This November, Hanna will celebrate that connection with a newly announced Burt Bacharach tribute show and album, paying homage to one of popular music’s greatest songwriters and a hugely important influence on his own work.

Funny, eccentric and capable of switching from heartbreaking to gloriously uplifting in a heartbeat, Paddy Hanna remains one of the great characters of Irish independent music.

Praise for OYLEGATE

“silky-smooth alt.pop/rock”

The Irish Times 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“His vision is something that nobody else could execute.” 4.5/5

 - Arena, RTÉ Radio 1

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“No matter what he does, there’s always a sense of playfulness and joy in Paddy’s music” 

Hot Press (8/10)

“...a tremendously expansive synth-driven record…” 

– Zara Hedderman, The Bad Arts 

Praise for Paddy Hanna

“Wickedly smart” — NME

“A wonderfully idiosyncratic musician, crafting songs that could have something classicist and occasionally straight-up Old World to them, but filtering them through a modern disposition” — Stereogum

“Beautifully crafted, thoughtful work” — The Irish Times

OYLEGATE is a journey through the euphoric highs and crushing lows of parenthood, delivered with his signature blend of melancholic wit and lush, off-kilter charm. Elation and exhaustion. Love and terror. The weight of responsibility and the strange, disorienting beauty of watching life unfold before your eyes. 

After his fourth album, Imagine I’m Hoping, arrived to critical acclaim but not the mainstream success needed for him to continue on as a full-time musician, Hanna found himself at a personal and artistic low point. However, thanks to support from the Arts Council and the encouragement of his family, Hanna has returned as the intrepid captain of his own ship; he may not know the destination, but he’ll see us along the journey with his graceful pop sensibilities.

Determined to sidestep the usual sentimental trappings of writing about having a child, Hanna found an unlikely creative companion in grim Soviet-era cinema. As he wrote, films like Solaris flickered in the background—bleak, meditative landscapes that mirrored the depths of sleep deprivation and the existential wonder of bringing a new life into the world. This contrast of warmth and detachment, of intimate revelation and surreal detour, courses through OYLEGATE’s  DNA.

Despite its moments of cold introspection, OYLEGATE is sonically rich and enveloping—an effect captured in a single request to producer Daniel Fox: "sweet, sweet caramel." Hanna wanted the music to feel like satin lining the listener’s ears, wrapping them in warmth even when the themes tilt towards darkness.

True to form, OYLEGATE marks yet another creative leap for an artist who refuses to be boxed in. "One advantage of being an ‘artist’s artist’ is that you never have to worry about being creatively different between albums. There's real freedom in doing whatever you want and not being judged for it. And even if you are judged, who gives a shit?"

That spirit of fearless exploration—of finding joy in the unknown, the absurd, and the deeply personal—defines OYLEGATE. An odyssey of tenderness and turbulence, it’s the sound of an artist embracing life’s messiest, most beautiful contradictions.