All Ages
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Today, Irish quintet Bricknasty have released their new EP BLACKS LAW, marking their most daring, unflinching and spiritually charged project to date. Following a run of striking singles — the disfigured ferocity of “go get that blade”, the haunting trad-folk elegy “is é a locht a laghad”, and the visceral urgency of “I hope you’re ready” (featuring F3miii) — BLACKS LAW peels back yet another layer of the Dublin collective’s uncompromising vision. Across nine tracks, the band confront faith, addiction, political disillusionment and human volatility with brutal honesty and boundless sonic invention.
The project’s focus track, “eternity in grace,” stands as a heartfelt tribute to D’Angelo — an artist to whom Bricknasty attribute much of their musical foundation and spiritual inspiration. Deeply influenced by D’Angelo’s approach to soul, groove, and vulnerability, the band channel that same reverence and raw emotion into the track, reinterpreting his influence through their own distinct lens.
“D'angelo is the biggest gift to music since Turlough O’ Carolan. Without him we'd have went our whole lives never properly playing our instruments or understanding real music. He is namely responsible for inspiring Christ in me life. We will pray without ceasing over his soul as many other millions of people will. bless you Michael D'Angelo Archer. bless you and your son both now and ever unto the ages of ages amen” – Fatboy
BLACKS LAW represents a full-circle rebirth for Bricknasty. Created in just six months — much of it recorded DIY-style in makeshift studios and B&Bs on the Irish border. The project captures the volatile alchemy between frontman Fatboy and producer/multi-instrumentalist Cillian McCauley, the band’s creative core. Forged amid a period of touring, falling out, reconciliation, and total creative immersion, the record stands as both a statement and a mirror — exposing the contradictions that define the group: chaos and clarity, destruction and faith, despair and redemption.
At its centre lies Fatboy’s unmistakable voice; raw, reverent, and steeped in lived experience. His lyrics draw deeply from his upbringing in Ballymun, north Dublin, and his personal battles with faith and addiction. These are the threads that are woven through BLACKS LAW as both motif and mission: a search for forgiveness, meaning, and survival in a fractured world.
Bricknasty’s “BLACKS LAW” is not just an EP — it’s a manifesto. Politically charged, spiritually searching, and sonically untethered, it laces together Ireland’s bruised past with a fervent hope for the future. A fitting progression from the sonic experimentation found on their acclaimed 2024 mixtape ‘XONGZ አስቀያሚ ጡብ’.
Here, Bricknasty strips away the excess and plunges headfirst into sonic and emotional fragmentation, letting shimmering melody give way to scorched metal tones, and rhythm sections that sway in and out of sync with the chaos. As always, frontman Fatboy leads the charge with a voice both raw and poised, channeling a frantic beauty at the heart of disarray.
This new project arrives off the back of a triumphant live run that saw Bricknasty make their Glastonbury debut (they were hailed as one of Notion mag’s “ones to watch” at this year's festival), bringing their kinetic and boundary-pushing performance to one of the world’s most revered stages. Over the past two years, they’ve shared stages with a genre-spanning list of luminaries including Coldplay (at a sold-out Croke Park), Aby Coulibaly, Loyle Carner, Nas, Ezra Collective, and André 3000, cementing their reputation as one of the most electrifying and unpredictable new live acts out of Ireland. The Dublin five-piece also recently supported Kneecap, alongside a slew of their own upcoming headline live dates across Europe.
