Album Review Pillow Queens - Leave The Light On

Given the far-reaching success of their independently-released debut, it would have been easy for Dublin’s Pillow Queens to repeat the process verbatim. Perfectly capturing place, family and identity, 2020’s ‘In Waiting’ saw the four-piece break both sides of the Atlantic, even securing two slots on US TV. Yet ‘Leave The Light On’ swaps this sense of personal heritage for introspection, pairing delicate self-reflection with sounds far grander than their previous release. Awash with electric guitars equally as influenced by tradition as cathartic night drives, ‘Leave The Light On’ delves into the power of loneliness. Challenging the definition through both lyrics and sound, Pillow Queens deliberately play with light and heavy. Pamela Connolly’s voice embodies this juxtaposition, cutting through like a jackhammer with soft edges. Combined, they boldly express the inward isolation aligned so closely with moving beyond the setting established on ‘In Waiting’. That record’s intimacy is replaced here by an urgent yearning for something bigger, captured in the chaos of ‘Historian’s closing moments and the frustration of ‘Try Try Try’. They soundtrack the band’s trajectory, stepping out into the world and facing the explosive new emotions that come with it.