Irish trio NewDad are back with their bold and impactful sophomore album. They delve into the track list for Wonderland.
Packing an emotional grit, a punchy but delicate musical architecture and effortless chemistry, Galway-born alt-rockers NewDad are one of the thriving Irish scene’s most revered talents. After a couple of standout EPs, last year’s debut album MADRA was a deftly produced, sonically encompassing and lyrically resolute collection of tracks that set out the band’s agenda to consume, compel and occasionally devastate.
Barely more than 18 months later, with a 2025 May EP “Safe” bridging the gap in between, the trio is back with a sophomore record. Altar is a continuation and a chiselling of the NewDad artistic identity – angsty, ethereal shoegaze-adjacent palettes, dreamy vocals, intelligent and touching lyricism.
It’s an assured and tender work of realism and magic, a rewarding fragment of singer Julie Dawson’s soul. Below, she exclusively tells Wonderland all about the record’s track list in our latest track-by-track feature.
Listen to Altar…
Read the track-by-track…
“Otherside”
“Otherside” was one of the last songs that was written for altar and in a way that made it the perfect start because it completely and definitively encompasses what I was trying to say on the entire album. The otherside is Galway, it’s the hope that one day after all the hard work, the trials and tribulations that come hand in hand with being in the music industry that I’ll be able to make it to otherside, home. It talks about the cyclical pattern of London, the relentless nature of the place, the need to always be there and always be going, always be on. Galway for me represents peace and rest and it’s the thing I desire most.
“Heavyweight”
“Heavyweight” was a more tongue in cheek approach to tackling similar themes e.g. the relentless nature of the music industry and expectations that are placed on you as an artist. The key theme though is the expectations that are put on women in the music industry. It was a song born out of frustration. There have been MANY times where I’ve been told how to feel, how to look, how to be. I felt that I was being held to a totally different standard, I think women are in general. Be friendly but not overly friendly, be confident but not overly confident, be patient, be restrained and don’t ever fuck up. I think the whole thing is exhausting and heavyweight was a way for me to make sense of these feelings. It was a way for me to say no I can be whatever I want to be and I’m not letting anyone else tell me who I am.
“Pretty“
“Pretty” is a lighter spin on a key theme of the album, homesickness. It was a way for me to express my adoration for Galway, it’s a love song really. I talk about the way home looks, sounds, how even on the darkest, wettest days it’s the most beautiful place in the world to me and I yearn for it every single day of my life. Coming to a place like London that’s so chaotic and overwhelming really made me appreciate the peace and quiet of home. Also the landscape, being able to see wide open fields and roads with no one on them it’s just so calming and I’m in love with it. That’s why I wrote this song.
“Roobosh”
“Roobosh” was honestly just a bit of fun! Tackling a similar theme to heavyweight. The expectation’s I’ve felt as a woman to always be understanding and patient but sometimes you just want to scream and shout and that’s why we wrote it. To have a moment that was just pure energy and anger was very therapeutic and a great addition to the album
“Misery”
“Misery” is another song that touches on London and that feeling like you can never leave. Though in this song I question my own role in my unhappiness and discontent. Am I the one keeping myself from home and getting sucked into the relentless slog of a big city? It’s a song about how sometimes it’s easy to stay in a miserable and uncomfortable place rather than actually trying to make changes and improve your life. Basically it’s easier to mope rather than to fix things. Lyrically The drama is definitely heightened just because it felt like it had to be to match the energy of the song, I felt like I could have real fun with this one.
“Sinking Kind Of Feeling”
This song was written during what felt like an utterly hopeless period of my life. I was unhappy in London, unhappy in my job and it felt like things were always going to be that way and I just felt stuck. At desperate times I find myself searching for something more, some guidance, something that’ll help it make sense but it’s hard to find answers sometimes. Sometimes the music industry is a special kind of hell. But sometimes it’s like heaven and I guess I’m trying to communicate the Highs and the lows of this business in sinking kind of feeling
“Puzzle”
“Puzzle” is a song that touches on people pleasing but also the sycophantic habits you witness in the music industry and can fall victim to, from either side. I also wanted to just write a song that captured the alluring murky energy of a late drunken night. In this song I question why I have this dire need to appease people who don’t give a shit about me or understand me in any way. It’s about compromising who you are and what you stand for to make other people feel good
“Entertainer”
“Entertainer” is like puzzle, about appeasing people and compromising yourself. In this case I was more writing about work and the expectations that have been placed on me as the front woman of a band. It’s about This desire I’ve felt to be likeable or more palatable to others. I had found myself always trying to pander to other people’s needs and just rolling over and saying yes when people told me how to look or act or feel. When you do that you totally lose your sense of self and there was a point where I did. I didn’t know who I was anymore or who I was supposed to be. That’s what Entertainer is all about, entertaining people and their ideas of what you should be and losing yourself in the process
“Everything I Wanted”
This was the song that kind of set the tone for this album, it’s basically about expectations verses reality. I wrote it nearly two years ago after I’d been in London a year and I realised that maybe London and the music industry was not all it was cracked up to be, at least it wasn’t what I had expected. There’s this idea, I think we all fall victim to this, that once we achieve something or get something we’ve always wanted that we will finally be happy, but that’s never the case. It’s always, what’s next, I want more. This job can get very hard, very fraught and I guess I had anticipated doing the thing I love most as my job would be easier and more fulfilling than this. Everything I wanted is me coming to terms with that.
“Mr Cold Embrace”
I wrote this song during a severe bout of homesickness. It’s about missing home, yearning for it and wanting to be swept up and brought back there. It’s about the differences between the unsettling chaotic nature of London verses the peace and tranquillity of home. Neither are perfect of course but to me Ireland in all its ruggedness and wild miserable weather is the most comforting, beautiful place in the world. I miss the air and the sea, the water to me is the altar where I worship Galway. “Heaven” is home, in this song all I desire is to one day get there, go back and stay there.
“Vertigo”
Vertigo tackles similar themes to Everything I wanted, though this song lacks any hope, it was written at a point where I really wanted to give up on music. I don’t feel that way now but it’s a feeling that knocks on the door every now again, when things are hard and feel like they’re not moving and like you’ll never succeed or get anywhere. It’s about how I never thought I’d lose my love for music but there have been times I have and I thought I couldn’t do it anymore. Seeing even a peek of the underbelly of the music industry and the way things operate in these social media crazed days, as an artist is fucking soul destroying and it made me hate every part of it. It’s also about how it’s really terrifying to have the power in your hands, that you could uproot eveything you’ve worked for and just leave because it’s become too much. It’s high stakes and very scary and dizzying. That’s vertigo.
“Something’s Broken”
I love this song and I think it’s the perfect ending, a hopeful ending to the album. This song touches on the key theme of Altar, missing home, feeling misplaced and unhappy where you are but this song feels like acceptance. In this song I ask for those around me to stick with me, hold my hand through the hard parts, to make the most of what we’ve got. To, even when it’s hard, try and enjoy this journey that we’re on because I know it won’t be like this forever. It’s acceptance that yes somethings broken but let’s find beauty in the rubble. I do believe If we work hard and stick together we will make it and it won’t always be so tough. It’s a hopeful end note and a great reminder of how much I love music and how determined I am to make this work.
