The Murder Capital have announced their third album ‘Blindness’ with new single ‘Words Lost Meaning.’ Check it out below alongside our interview with frontman James McGovern.
Set for release on February 21, ‘Blindness’ swiftly follows on from the Irish quintet’s acclaimed 2023 album ‘Gigi’s Recovery’, which arrived four years after their breakout debut ‘When I Have Fears’. Although those albums were both built around their titles, McGovern revealed that the notion of ‘Blindness’ came “very late in the game.”
“There were a couple of other titles that almost caught fire for us, but they were doused pretty quickly,” he told NME. “‘Blindness’ ended up being the one, looking at the themes across the record. This denial of faith – also a grappling with faith – and an underbelly of Irishness running through it.
He continued: “I think blindness is endemic in the human condition, really. We’re made of blind spots. We try to focus on things and meet each person, task and song with as true a heart as possible. But at the same time, it’s powerful to be aware of how much you can’t see.”
Speaking about new single ‘Words Lost Meaning’ – which follows September’s visceral ‘Can’t Pretend To Know’ – McGovern explained: “I’ve had experiences in my own relationship, being on tour a lot, where the words ‘I love you’ would be used over text, or as a way to close a conversation.
“They were dismantling and losing their essence… if the words ‘I love you’ are losing meaning in a romantic context or a partnership, it’s a worrying sign. Those words mean so much, and they should be respected as such. I’d rather say goodbye and say nothing if it’s not going to be said with meaning.”
Check out our full interview below, where McGovern dissects the band’s relationship with their Irishness, the album’s relentless opening track and what’s on Nick Cave’s backstage menu, following their recent European tour with The Bad Seeds.
NME: Hello James. The notion behind ‘Words Lost Meaning’ is quite stark – how might words be able to recover their meaning?
James McGovern: “Words are very powerful things. Without putting too much pressure on ourselves, they hold as much court as anything in life. The only way for me to get that back was to address it and say that I’m feeling this. I’m not pointing the finger [at] my girlfriend – it was both of us – but the only way to reclaim meaning is to be open about it. Communication within a friendship, relationship, or anything in life… you [need] a self-awareness of where it’s coming from.”
Are there any other specific examples of words losing meaning that you’ve noticed?
“When you bump into someone on a night out, you can feel that intention [from] them. Are they actually looking you in the eye? Are they actually speaking with intention, or are their eyes darting around the fucking pub to try and talk to someone a little bit cooler? Oh my God, London is so fucking bad for it – people trying to climb a ladder to nowhere.”
Is this just one way in which ‘Blindness’ manifests itself across the album?
“There are songs like ‘Love Of Country’, looking at the widespread xenophobia and distorted patriotism that seems to be spreading across the world. This idea of ‘my land’, ‘them’, and all this fucking bullshit. Then songs like ‘Words…’, ‘A Distant Life’ and ‘Trailing A Wing’ were more romantically inclined. I was trying to figure out what was happening between them all, so I almost placed a character in the middle and started to study them.
“The character thought they knew what was happening in their lives. This lie that we’re told – we’re supposed to know what’s going on, we’re totally in charge here. If we just make a list at night of what we’re going to do tomorrow, it’s going to be OK. There was a blindness to everything. This blind hate, or the blindness in ‘Words Lost Meaning’, where you’re just missing the point.”
The five of you are now spread between Berlin, Donegal, Letterkenny and London. How do you all view your relationship with Ireland?
“We talk about [our Irishness] all the time. Nationalism, patriotism, all of these topics are hot on the tongue of everybody, for so many different reasons: the genocide going on in Palestine, Trump being re-elected. Irishness comes up all the time for us – more often than not, because we’re feeling pride for our country – [but also] dismay at the way things are being handled by our government, the way people are being let down and pushed into corners.
“There’s a lot of that in the world. Not just the people who are committing atrocities, but people who are filled with this hatred of ‘other’. They’re forced into that hatred, in a way… a lot of those people are downtrodden people who the government looks to last. With the [November 2023] Dublin riots, what happened that day was terrible, and the reaction was also horrific. ‘This is something that’s been bubbling up’, they say. You can’t shy away from that: why are these people filled with rage, and why is that rage being manipulated onto immigrants? How is that all being orchestrated? It’s not a fucking conspiracy theory, it’s how society is manifesting.”
How did writing ‘Blindness’ help you make sense of your relationship with patriotism?
“If you’re going through stress, a fucking lump can start to protrude out of your arm, or maybe a cyst shows up somewhere. The physicality of that imagery is what I see in society today. That’s what ‘Love Of Country’ is about. Being a kid on the playground, all the words people used… part of it was an anti-British sentiment, being in Ireland. I used to always feel very conflicted about that as a teenager. I definitely took part in it, as a way to fit in, but it really confused me, this innate link between patriotism and hatred of others.
“It applies to any nation, the idea of loving, nurturing and protecting parts of your culture in a way of sharing it – in a manner that reflects its most potent origin state. Being proud to be from somewhere is a beautiful thing, right? But at no point does the lottery of being born somewhere give you a right over the fucking land, and all that bullshit.”
‘Death Of A Giant’ touches on those feelings of pride and togetherness you felt during the Dublin procession for the late Shane MacGowan. Why was it important to capture that moment?
“It was a very powerful day when Shane’s procession came up Pearse Street. This old Irish man was singing the tunes… you could taste the weight of the moment. There’s something so powerful about when we all come together and people are outpouring their love. It is what’s missing in the world… I think individualism is probably the death of us all. We went back into the studio with no intention of writing a song about that – it’s not actually an approach I’ve taken before, lyrically, in The Murder Capital. It’s meaningful, because you don’t have to be a die-hard MacGowan fan to have been affected by his work.”
‘Moonshot’ is a breathless album opener – sonically, it evokes memories of your early hits ‘Don’t Cling To Life’ and ‘Feeling Fades’…
“That was the intention of writing the record, to go to that place. ‘Moonshot’ was around before ‘Gigi’s Recovery’. It was a bit too ‘post-punk’ or whatever, and we weren’t really into that, so eventually it became this… it’s the last thing we recorded in the studio. ‘When I Have Fears’ and ‘Gigi…’ have these cinematic, grand opening moments, which we loved. The fucking needle goes down – and bang. That was ‘Moonshot’.”
Around the release of ‘Gigi’s Recovery’, you told NME that “the post-punk label was getting a bit tiring” – do you still feel any weight from it?
“There’s definitely no weight attached to it. People talk about it – myself included – probably more than it needs to be talked about. It’s funny seeing people [saying] ‘Post-punk’s fucking over.’ Post-punk was from the ’80s, this shit’s been over and alive [again and again]. I consider us a rock band. It’s a broad thing, and people can use alternative, post-punk, whatever the fuck they want – I’m sure it touches all those bases.”
You previewed some ‘Blindness’ material on your recent European tour with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – how did their fans take to the tracks?
“They seemed very into it! I suppose the big shining moment was with ‘Love Of Country’, when we figured out that it was a closer at the end of the set in Madrid. That was inspired by the way Nick closes his show with ‘Into My Arms’. ‘Love Of Country’ is not as dynamically low as that, but in the context of our music, it’s down there – but it’s fucking intense. It was a really life-affirming moment.”
Did you manage to spend much time with Nick?
“We met Nick a couple of days into the tour in catering. I’d sent an email the day before with the new album, [saying] ‘Look, nice one for having us,’ in more eloquent words than that. He listened to the whole record straight away and pointed out that he loved ‘Love Of Country’ specifically, and also ‘Swallow’. They have a big meal backstage after every show, and they had us in for dinner on the last night. That was beautiful – a lot of interesting conversations about politics, life, live performance and soundtracks. And the food was fucking incredible.”
What was on the menu?
“We had this salmon with potatoes, but then these fucking unbelievable brussel sprouts, with some, like, onion jam? It was chef’s kiss – top-tier stuff – and then this really ornate, sculptural dessert where they turned chocolate into paper.”
The Murder Capital’s new album ‘Blindness’ is due out February 21. Check out the track listing below.
‘Moonshot’
‘Words Lost Meaning’
‘Can’t Pretend To Know’
‘A Distant Life’
‘Born Into The Fight’
‘Love Of Country’
‘The Fall’
‘Death Of A Giant’
‘Swallow’
‘That Feeling’
‘Trailing A Wing’
The Murder Capital’s 2025 headline tour dates are below. Visit here for tickets and more information.
MARCH
31 – Wellington, San Fran
APRIL
1 – Auckland, Tuning Fork
3 – Melbourne, The Corner
4 – Brisbane, Brightside
5 – Sydney, Crowbar
7 – Perth, The Rosemount
17 – Birmingham, XOYO
18 – Manchester, New Century Hall
19 – Glasgow, Saint Luke’s
21 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
22 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
24 – London, HERE at Outernet
26 – Bristol, SWX
29 – Lisbon, Lav
30 – Porto, Auditorio CCOP
MAY
2 – Madrid, Sala Copernico
3 – Barcelona, Sala Razzmatazz
5 – Milan, Alcatraz
6 – Zurich, Bogen F
8 – Munich, Backstage
9 – Prague, MeetFactory
10 – Berlin, Gretchen
11 – Cologne, Gebaude 9
13 – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
14 – Nijmegen, Doornroosje
15 – Amsterdam, Melkweg- MAX
17 – Paris, Le Trianon