‘For Your Sins’ is the debut album from Irish duo Dea Matrona. The duo formally became a band in 2018, but have been playing together since 2017. Orláith Forsythe and Mollie McGinn were both still teenagers when they decided to give busking a try. This drew attention and it wasn’t long before they were playing in small pubs, and by the end of the year they were playing dedicated venues.
Both members took Music as an A Level, so once they finished their musical studies, they decided to pursue music as a full time job. Their popularity rose as they continued to busk regularly. They came up with the name ‘Dea Matrona’ which translates to ‘Divine Mother Goddess’ in Celtic mythology.
In late 2020, a video of the band performing a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’ went viral. This soon led to TV and festival performances including Reading and Leeds, and TV show The Late, Late show. In November 2021 the band won two awards at the Northern Ireland Music Prize winning “Best single” and “ATL Contender”.
In more recent years, Dea Matrona have supported Eagles of Death Metal and Foo Fighters on their respective tours, and played even more festivals. These are two talented women who have written and produced all their music. They are also both multi instrumentalists, not only swapping vocal duties, but swapping roles on bass and guitar.
This magnificent debut album is filled with catchy pop rock. One of my favourite songs is ‘Wilderness’ which is a slighter heavier rock track with a funky bass line. Funkiness and catchiness is a theme throughout- ‘Get My Mind Off You’, ‘Did Nobody Ever Love You’ and ‘Red Button’ all being worthy of a good sing along. Even on slower song ‘Black Rain’ with it’s epic build ups, you won’t be able to resist having a dance.
‘Won’t Feel Like This Forever’ and ‘Stamp on it’ bring in a slightly more country music tinge, which shows the versatility and flexibility of this talented duo. Clearly they are skilled musicians, but they also know how to have fun as proved by this album.
”For Your Sins’ is out now, which you can purchase here
You can catch Dea Matrona live on these dates:
May 7th- Brighton
May 8th- Bristol
May 10th-London
May 11th Cardiff
May 12th Southampton
May 14th Manchester
May 15th Newcastle Upon Tyne
(more dates can be found on https://deamatrona.co.uk/)
Dea Matrona Online: Instagram/Facebook/X
Review written by Hayley Foster da Silva
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