Ailbhe Reddy: Endless Affair - Indie pop cedes to quieter, more vulnerable songs on an excellent second album

Ailbhe Reddy probably should have been a star by now. As the Dublin musician learned, however, sometimes timing is everything. Releasing your debut album as a pandemic raged in 2020 meant that those quietly brilliant if somewhat guileless songs didn’t reach the far-flung corners they might have with a tour promoting them.

Two years on, Reddy has not only rallied but trumped the wry vulnerability of Personal History with something even more honest and well-rounded. Reddy is a beautiful vocalist and, more importantly, a talented songwriter, as heard on the twangy slacker-pop of Shitshow and the striking slow burn of Shoulder Blades.

Co-produced by Tommy McLaughlin, who has worked with Soak, Endless Affair is an album of two halves: rambunctious, clattering indie pop gently cedes to quieter, more vulnerable songs that often seem laced with self-doubt. Many of these relationship-oriented songs are written from the morning-after perspective, like the scathing takedown of Last to Leave (“Your monologue drags in the kitchen / it’s not just your drink you’re spilling to anyone who’ll listen”) or the regret-laced Good Time.

A stunning brace of personal songs, written for her late grandmother (the soft flutter of Pray for Me) and her mother (the shifting, glittering, lilting dance of Motherhood) wrap the track list up beautifully. She should have been a star by now, but this album will surely tee Ailbhe Reddy up for the big time.