Elaine Malone - Pyrrhic (Vinyl)

The debut album from the Limerick-born, Cork-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, released September 2023 on Pizza Pizza Records. A fixture of Cork's DIY and experimental scene for over a decade through projects like MANTUA, HEX and Soft Focus, Malone recorded this with Cathal MacGabhann of The Altered Hours, backed by Sam Clague, Ruairí Dale and James Christie.

Named for the idea of a victory won at too great a cost, its nine tracks turn sacrifice and suffering into a dark, dreamy wall of sound, moving from the shoegaze churn of 'Moontread' to the barbed post-punk of 'Eat Out Of Your Hand' and the reverb-drowned psychobilly croon of 'My Baby's Dead (Redux)'. Intimate and expansive at once, with Malone's faraway vocals cutting through everything.