Track of the Day: anamoe drive – the irish wolfhound (2025)
If you know the name Oisín Leahy Furlong, the chances are you know him as the lead vocalist for Irish group THUMPER; if you don’t know the name, then you’re in for a treat. The brainchild of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Oisín Leahy Furlong, anamoe drive allows Furlong to embrace a solo journey while simultaneously diverging from his band’s psych-pop tone to something along the lines of indie-folk. The latest addition to his discography is the single, ‘the irish wolfhound’.
Following his critically acclaimed 2024 album, Breakfast In Bed, ‘the irish wolfhound’ is Furlong’s first single off his highly anticipated upcoming album, thank god it’s friday. Co-recorded and produced with engineer Rian Trench and Ian McFarlane (the bassist from anamoe drive’s live band), ‘the irish wolfhound’ is a snippet of vintage folk driven directly into the heart of listeners. I mean, not literally, but there is something about the song that speaks to our souls.
Showcasing the attractiveness and beauty of acoustic music, the interplay of Furlong’s rich vocals blends with a classical guitar; however, a slip of obscurity creeps in with a bass inserting rhythmic swells bringing body to an already weighty song (despite the minimalist arrangement). Easy on the ears and filled with languid sincerity, ‘the irish wolfhound’ is a breath of fresh air in a sometimes-stagnating folk scene.
Interestingly, while the tune is calming and charming, it was borne of something more profound. Furlong explains:
“The song attempts to unpack or untangle a myth I was wrapping myself in at the time, the myth of the struggling artist. I was struggling, and I was an artist; therefore, I must be living up to some grander design? In reality, I was just living a fraught, lonely existence, and any significance I placed around this was just armour that I wore out into the world. I had just come out of a relationship, and a lot of my closest friends had emigrated, so it served me to dress up my distress… something that would be the making of me. In Irish mythology, the Irish wolfhound is spiritually significant, a protective force… In reality, it’s just a dog. I guess I found some significance in that comparison.”
Find out more about anamoe drive on his Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
Listen to more folk music on The Other Side Reviews Folk playlist:
