New Music: Ornamental Wedding Guest – Fáilte

Fáilte is just that, a welcome addition to your listening pleasures, lo-fi rock with a big heart.

The debut from Kris Kelly’s Ornamental Wedding Guest project has a similar emotional register to Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, an impressive achievement for a debut single, though the Donegal musician has been making music for a few years now.

Like the bands, Kelly tackles an emotive subject matter on Fáilte, without resorting to anger or hyperbole. He works the melody and arrangement into a sound that is like the calm before the storm, and uses the lyrics to communicate their messages via plain speaking and some lovely turns of phrase. It’s political in nature, but in the way everyday life is, full of decisions and dangers.

Kelly says about Fáilte, “The song tackles the myth of Irish culture being lost, an idea commonly heard among those opposed to migrants coming to Ireland. However, growing up in Ireland, a lot was made of how welcoming a people we are. In reality, we are not seeing this value displayed by those who claim to want to protect the Irish identity most.”

“Similarly, the tricolour being used to intimidate migrants goes against the very meaning of the flag and makes me wonder how much of it is true worry for ‘Irish identity’ and how much of it is just plain racism.”

“This feels like the right song to be my debut release. Not because it’s a topical issue or because I want to exploit the needless hatred that people are being subjected to, but because it’s the song that asks the most questions of my surroundings at a time where I’m pretty confused myself.”

“My future releases ask pretty specific questions of periods in my life, but this one felt more consuming, as many online agitators seem to have forgotten that people are people, no matter where you are from.”

Connect with Ornamental Wedding Guest on Instagram to learn more about Kris Kelly, Ornamental Wedding Guest, and Fáilte.