A TRIO hailing from Cork with a bright indie-rock future hoving into view, Rowan have signed with the Los Angeles indie Beverly Martel and are gearing up for the release of their EP, Everybody Talks, on July 23rd; and, following last month’s tight, bright title track single drop they’re inviting you in for the low-slung guitar pop delight of “Nothing’s Gonna Change”, a song a certain New Yorker by the name of Mr Casablancas might give his eye teeth for: it puts the ‘hell yes!’ into irresistible, carefree, wind in its hair, straddling pop melodicism and guitar scuzz with an ease maybe not seen since the heady days of Ash.
Rowan came into being last year when three seasoned musicians, vocalist Dylan Howe, guitarist Kevin Herron and drummer Fionn Hennessy-Hayes were catapulted into a lockdown loss of income. Dylan already had a wealth of songs to hand sketched out down the years; and a so a new project sprang into life.
“Nothing’s Gonna Change” talks about “coming out of your shell, gaining your self-confidence and growing into yourself” says frontman Dylan Howe. It also sees a further step away from their earlier folk-rockiness, as you can hear on their debut single, “Finish Line”. That was followed by the proper dancefloor indie anthem, “Big Wave”.
A debut EP, No One Is Safe Here, was wistful and contained five tracks of longing and escapism, inspired by Dylan’s “struggles with mental health” as he used art to “try and get the bad stuff out. It’s like therapy,” as he explained.
Was there ever a feeling that the pandemic-induced hiatus meant the threesome should turn their hands to other things, ride it out? Not a bit of it.
“We figured doing anything was better than radio silence,” explains Fionn. “We just wanted to connect to people.”
In celebration of the EP’s release, the band will perform a very special headline show that day, July 23rd, at Dublin’s Button Factory. Tickets are available here.
Connect with Rowan on Facebook, Twitter and at their official website.
