Last September, Ireland-based indie rockers Pillow Queens dropped their debut album, In Waiting. Widely acclaimed overseas, the full-length marked a breakthrough moment for the four queer musicians, and was even recently nominated for an RTÉ Choice Music Prize, the Irish equivalent of Canada’s Polaris Prize or the UK’s Mercury Prize.
The buzz has finally made its way across the Atlantic, as Pillow Queens delivered their US television debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Tuesday. Corden, who considers In Waiting one of the best records of 2020, conducted a short interview with band members Sarah Corcoran and Pamela Connolly before introducing a performance from the full group.
From inside an industrial-looking space, Pillow Queens rolled out “Liffey”, a gripping and emotive standout track from In Waiting. In an interview with Women in Pop, the quartet said the single is “one of the darkest” on the entire album. They explained,
“Lyrically it’s very apocalyptic and full of impending doom to oneself and the world around them. We wanted the sound of this to punch you in the gut which meant everything needed to be huge white the lead guitar was still able to slice through powerfully. The production took a few goes to get the right but Tommy nailed it in the end. We had envisioned it being like a thunder storm of instruments and vocals, from the low pulsing drum and bass to the swelling cymbals and wailing guitars.”
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Watch Pillow Queens make their “thunderstorm”-like US TV debut below. And for kicks, stream all of In Waiting after that.
