Afterbliss – Separated At Birth By Popular Demand (2025)
Afterbliss’s debut album, Separated at Birth by Popular Demand, is a bold and cohesive statement from one of Dublin’s most promising indie-rock outfits. Blending melodic rock, gritty guitar work, and synth-driven pop hooks, the 13-track release cements the band’s status as a genre-defying force with emotional depth and an ear for arena-sized choruses. For fans of The Killers, Muse, Editors, and Interpol, this album will feel like familiar terrain but with enough fresh twists to keep it compelling and distinctly Afterbliss.
The record opens with the atmospheric ‘Sonorous’ – an apt introduction to the sonic landscape that Afterbliss inhabits. It’s moody, cinematic, and layered, setting the tone for a journey that oscillates between vulnerability and catharsis. The band’s ability to shift between these emotional poles is one of their greatest strengths.
Lead single ‘Screaming Out Love’ follows, and it’s easy to see why it was chosen as the vanguard for this release. Propelled by a throbbing bassline and shimmering synths, the track delivers a soaring vocal performance from Evan Cassidy. There’s urgency in both the music and lyrics – a kind of existential cry for connection that hits like a fist to the chest. It’s a quintessential Afterbliss track: polished yet raw, anthemic but intimate.
‘Kiss & Tell’ and ‘Remnants’ retain their strength within the album’s broader narrative. ‘Kiss & Tell’ leans into alt-rock with sharp, angular riffs and a chorus built for sing-alongs, while ‘Remnants’ explores more introspective territory, floating on airy synth textures before snapping back into reality with tight percussion and a satisfyingly heavy bridge.
Mid-album standouts include ‘I Never Wrote You a Long Song’ and ‘Beautiful Mind’. The former is a bittersweet slow burn that showcases Cassidy’s vocal control and emotional range, layered over subtle synth arrangements and melancholic guitar work. ‘Beautiful Mind’, on the other hand, is a driving, pulse-raising track that blends infectious rhythm with cerebral lyrics – a clear nod to the band’s love of narrative songwriting à la Manic Street Preachers.
As the album progresses, tracks like ‘Escape’ and ‘Beyond the Shadow’ explore darker, more atmospheric tones. Here, the influence of bands like Interpol and Editors becomes more apparent. The production – handled by Alan Kelly and mastered by Fergal Davis – is crisp, balanced, and dynamic throughout, giving each song its own distinct character without losing the thread of cohesion that ties the project together.
‘Empty Spaces’ slows things down with haunting vocals and minimalist instrumentation before giving way to the closing track, ‘You Know Who Said’. It’s a fitting end to the album – defiant, reflective, and musically expansive. It leaves the listener with the sense that Afterbliss are not just revisiting the sounds of their influences, but actively reshaping them.
What truly elevates Separated at Birth by Popular Demand is the chemistry between the band members. Guitarists Alex Burcea and James O’Gorman trade leads and textures with confidence, often blurring the lines between traditional rock riffs and synth-driven atmospheres. Shane Waldron’s bass work is tight and melodic, while Ally Pender’s drumming gives the songs their drive and dynamism without ever overpowering the mix.
Lyrically, the album explores love, loss, longing, and self-exploration, often through a poetic lens that invites multiple listens. There’s enough ambiguity in the writing to keep things intriguing, yet enough emotional clarity to strike a chord on first play.
In a crowded indie-rock landscape, Afterbliss stand out by refusing to be pigeonhole. Their sound is both nostalgic and forward-thinking, merging the emotional weight of post-punk revival with the glossy sheen of synth-pop and the raw energy of modern rock. Separated at Birth by Popular Demand is a confident debut, rich with texture, ambition, and heart.
Afterbliss delivers an album that is as emotionally resonant as it is sonically expansive. One of the most exciting Irish rock releases in recent years.
For more from Afterbliss check out their official website, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
