Elbé: New single and Cork concert to brighten up January 

As the world inches slowly forth from a few years of public-health, social, and economic tumult, and in to the relative unknown at the top of 2024, it can be hard not to get stuck emotionally, whether that’s ennui, overwhelm, fatigue… or however else you want to describe it. All of which serves to make the arrival of ‘Shy Boy Trá’, a new single from Cork indie heads Elbé, just that little bit more of a tonic. 

Despite its release being delayed from summer 2023, for various personal reasons, good fortune was on the band’s side, lining up an unfussy, pop-laced mover about overcoming the odds and making good on life’s promise with the onset of a much-needed breather at the start of the year. Via Zoom, Belfast-born Allen speaks about the song’s inspiration and writing process, ahead of its release on Friday, January 12.

Allen says: “I suppose, I was trying to write songs for the band, as I’m always doing. I had maybe a week or two that I wasn’t writing anything that I thought was any good, and I was getting a bit hung up on it a little bit. I don’t know, I just thought, ‘Why am I worrying? This is supposed to be fun, just go and do it, write something that you enjoy.

“It just came from that, with an emphasis on not waiting for something to happen, just making it happen yourself, and that’s kind of what came through in the song, I think. So, lyrically, all of that was sort-of based around that, but not necessarily about writing a song, that’s just how the song sort-of came to fruition. Then I tied in things in my personal life, I suppose, things I’ve heard from other people with that sort of vibe or intention.”

The song’s title rolls off the tongue with the equal lightness of conversational Irish and the bounce of a memorable hip-hop moniker. The band gets into territory familiar for many of the so-called “millennial” generation and younger.

“When we first played it, we thought of [Nintendo racing video game] Mario Kart, yeah,” cracks drummer Nora Friedrich. “Emily [Naughton, keys] thought of Mario Kart, she thought it sounded like one of them songs, [theme music from the games’ courses] Shy Guy Beach, or something?” says Allen, invoking one of the Mario game’s more common platoons of lower-tier villains. “That’s the one. I thought it would be fun to name it ‘Shy Boy Trá’.”

As the band’s songs pointedly mention the overcoming of adversity, it would be remiss not to ask about the adjustments and little victories that being in a band has presented over the past few years, beyond the pandemic, that adjustment period rolling on across the board. The band take it in their stride, they say.

“Just to mention the pandemic,” says Friedrich. “I suppose, what happened was, we were actually so lucky that whenever the restrictions were lifted, we had studio time booked. Funnily enough, we were able to record the two EPs we did in 2020 and ’21, so it didn’t really impact us. We didn’t have to cancel any studio time, funnily enough, so that was great.

“But some of us were working through the pandemic as well, so we didn’t have the luxury of having so much time off and being able to invest more time in to the music, which I think a lot of bands maybe were able to do. That was a bit of a pity.”

“The biggest impact, negatively, from Covid, would have been the fact that we weren’t able to gig, so we might have recorded stuff, but maybe we weren’t able to push them as much as we wanted to, y’know, but I suppose it was the same for everybody in that regard,” adds Allen.

In keeping with the single’s naturally immediate tone, it’s no surprise to your writer when Allen mentions that the band worked with Brian Casey, of Clonakilty’s Wavefield Studio, on the sessions that led to it, as well as previous single, ‘Hazy’, and more upcoming tunes for the year.

The residential facility, noted by

local musicians for its proximity to the town’s ‘bougie SuperValu’, is home to Casey’s intuitive production style, where bands play their material live, tapping into their practice and immediacy, before overdubs and other studio magic are given their due time.

“He was great to work with. He’s a lovely guy, and he’s hilarious, great craic, like. But his insight and everything else... it was a different approach than we took before.

“We’ve recorded with Christian Best [of Monique Studio] before, which was great as well. Me and him could spend like a day deciding what guitar pedal to play and stuff, whereas with Brian, it was just like, let’s get this done, get it done.

“Then he had suggestions for different things, small wee bits here and there that helps all of the songs, I think, but just the atmosphere, they’ve a lovely wee place down there. It’s a lovely part of the world and just the craic we had was great. And, obviously, the music, I think, is pretty good too, like [chuckles].”

The band’s next live excursion is on Saturday, January 20, in support of Dublin rockers Drying Weather, alongside Corkonian psych outfit Ebben Phlö, upstairs at Leeside rock institution Fred Zeppelin’s, an increasingly-important outlet in the city, as one of its only regular venues for emerging artists in the broad genre.

“It’s really simple to organise a gig at Fredz and, y’know, even for younger bands, I think that’s really important,” says Friedrich. “A space to have that you can just go and be like, ‘hey, can we book a date? Here’s 50 quid to book the room’.

“Everything else is provided. The only thing you have to do, really, is give them a few posters.

“I think that’s really important, that even like there’s some bands, young kids starting out, that we have a space like that, [where] you don’t really have to know so many people.

“I think a lot of different venues, it’s kind-of like who you know, sometimes there’s no email address on the website, even. That’s really important for us, anyway.”

Elbé’s new single ‘Shy Boy Trá’ will be available from Friday, January 12. Download it at https://elbeofficialmusic.bandcamp.com/music, or find it across streaming services.

Catch Elbé live at Fred Zeppelin’s on Saturday, January 20, alongside Drying Weather and Ebben Phlö. Kickoff at 8pm, tickets €10 on the door, or visit here for tickets.