Swallow Sorrow have embarked on their “Cur Le Chéile” tour, which got its name as a means to highlight the importance of collaboration and to promote unity between women throughout the Irish music scene. Joined by Other Mother, Dogswim and For Nina, the tour hits Galway, Cork and Dublin. We talked to Swallow Sorrow about touring, the female music scene in Ireland and connecting to the audience. This tour does not only feature incredibly talented musicians, but it's also a reminder that the future of Irish music is being built collaboratively, ferociously, and in real time by women who know exactly what they’re doing.
Photo Credit: @cianphoto
If someone came to your gig without knowing who you are - how would they describe you after?
AOÍBHE: I would hope people come away remembering the mood more than anything.
I’d hope that people can see our connection as a band on stage, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do what you love with people you love and I hope that people that do end up coming to our shows also feel that connection with us, because as great as it is to play as a band it’s amazing to be able to play to other people. I'd like to think that our set is nice and easy to listen to so that even new listeners feel part of something in the end.
So I guess in the end I'd love for people to be able to come away describing us as a really open and well connected group. As well as being easy to listen to and obviously realistically I think we’d be described as an all girl band with pretty cool harmonies or something.
What's the first thing you do after leaving the stage? What runs through your minds?
GRACE: Once we finish the set, I crawl (with an air of coolness) back onto stage and pack down as fast as I can. Whilst doing this, I enjoy chatting to audience members, I find it helps me come down from the adrenaline rush and gives me the chance to meet new people!
AOÍBHE: After packing everything down I always find myself talking to people who came to the set. I think it’s such an important thing to do, to connect with people who showed up.
NJ: As soon as I get off stage the first thing that goes through my head is that I can finally relax, I like to go down and ask people how they found the set and get their perspective of the performance.
ANNIE: After packing everything down, I love to chat to people and thank them for coming as we wouldn’t be able to play without such amazing support. If we’re on before other acts I also enjoy winding down and watching their sets.
What is your favourite song to play live? Is it a crowd pleaser that people would expect or is it an underrated one?
AOÍBHE: Recently it’s been ‘Come Home’ that’s been my favourite to play. I just find it to be such a fun song to play live and bass wise I just really enjoy. I think ‘Come Home’ is a really underrated song in my opinion.
ANNIE: I love playing ‘Don’t Look Away’, I feel it carries stronger emotions in comparison to our other songs on the set. I feel the song is underrated because it’s not necessarily energy filled but is more impactful to an audience. The song was written to spark conversation about the genocide that is happening in Gaza and I feel like that added context makes the song just that bit more special to me.
GRACE: I really enjoy playing ‘Come Home’, it really pushes us to feel the energy of our performances and we have a lot of fun playing it! It’s definitely an underrated track, but the more we play it the more recognition it gets!
NJ: I think my favourite song to play is ‘Mó Chroí’. I love hearing people sing it back to us and seeing everyone smiling in the crowd, it’s also just such a nice song to play.
What's one thing you wish people could see from your perspective on stage - something the audience never experiences?
GRACE: I wish they could see themselves singing ‘Mó Chroí’, a song we invite and teach the audience to sing. It’s a really unifying sight seeing everyone sing cúpla focail as Gaeilge.
People seem to really embrace the song the more they sing it, we’ve been really lucky to be blessed with audiences open to singing with us. It’s a really beautiful moment to be able to share with audiences across the country, and we look forward to sharing that experience at each show. Being able to let the audience into our perspective during that song would be really cool.
You put a lot of focus on the unity and representation of female fronted artists - which we adore. Why is this so important to you?
ANNIE: I think the representation of women in the Irish music scene is so important to us.
We find women to be very underrepresented and sometimes undermined, especially women of color. Being women who come from different backgrounds, it is important to us to showcase women from all walks of life who bring such diverse perspectives to music.
It’s a wonderful thing to be a part of such a close knit and welcoming community of people who bond over the love of the same thing and similar experiences we all may face.
Do you ever think about the lineage you're part of? The women who came before you and the ones who came after; does this inspire you or maybe even restrict you in some way?
NJ: Yeah of course, I think for me, I wouldn’t really be the woman I am today without them. I come from such a musical background so all the women in my family, from my mom to my aunts, and even my sisters, are very musical so that has definitely helped grow my love for music from such a young age to now.
I think growing up, even just hearing them sing around the house or being shown videos on YouTube of different artists performing definitely inspired me to do what I do now so I'm very grateful to have had such positive influences around me.
Who are some female fronted bands you think deserve more attention?
SWALLOW SORROW: Obviously we have to mention the amazing bands that we’ve worked with for the tour we’re doing, Other Mother, For Nina, and Dogswim.
That being said, there are a plethora of incredible female fronted bands on the scene right now, and the following are a few of many we would love to collaborate with in the future ;)
Girlfriend., Mother of Pearl, Cruel Sister, Shark School, Therapy Horse, Sinead and the Bugs, CABL, Niamh Regan, Hotgirl, Cliffords, Dreamboy, Jean Pack, Dose, Brooki, MDR, Delivery Service, Rowan Murphy, Florence Road, Adore, Affection to Rent, SPRINTS, Avenue 68, Babyrat, Sadbh Keane, Mirrors, Small Church.
What's next for you that you wish to speak about?
SWALLOW SORROW: For those of you who don’t know, we’re currently on our joint headline tour with Other Mother, Dogswim and For Nina as part of the ‘Cur le Chéile’ tour which highlights the importance of female voices in the music scene. Although the first date of the tour is over (a massive thank you to those who came, we had a great time and hope you all did too) our Dublin date is next, in the Grand Social on April 14th. Tickets are on swallowsorrow.com! Our Cork date is currently under wraps, so keep an eye on all our socials to be the first to know when and where we’ll fly to after the Dublin date!
Aside from the tour, we’d like to once again amplify the incredible bands who are touring with us, and implore you all to check them out on social media and streaming platforms! Also a massive thank you to you guys at Cherry Rock Magazine for giving us the space to chat about all things bird xx
Poster credits: @hans_c_a_m
Words by
Marie Müller, 2026.