New Sunset Hotel

By the time he leaves the stage, the crowd has grown to almost bursting point. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the place like this, in all honesty, and while it’s heartening to see such a large turnout for New Sunset Hotel, the temperature’s rising still, which is more than a little worrying.

Not that the ‘hometown heroes’ seem to care, though - they’re armed with plenty of water as they take to the stage against a rather impressive lighting display. The dramatic entrance takes us all by surprise, as does the group’s transformation. Their confidence has skyrocketed, that much is clear, and from the opening bars of ‘Marathon’, they hold the audience completely enthralled.

They have an album’s worth of songs already (despite only forming last August) and tonight the focus is on the new stuff. By the time the synth-tastic ‘Charge’ ends, it’s absolutely sweltering, but nobody minds in the slightest. John Murray seems rather taken aback at the response from the crowd, and I must admit that there’s a surreal air to this performance at times - just look at how quickly things have come together.

After an impassioned take on ‘Bluesky’, the quartet change up a gear for ‘Suns’. We’ve only had the familiar tracks to listen to up to now, so to say that there was no expectation involved would be a blatant lie. This new track, along with ‘Trees’, shows that they’ve got a lot more up their collective sleeve than many of us had reckoned.

We’re seven songs in at this point, but the conspicuous absence of a song that could be considered a real heavyweight is becoming more noticeable as time goes on. They really do save the best for last, though. We want a heavy-hitting new track; we get three. In a row. ‘Damtrack’ and ‘American Wake’ are truly special, the latter leaving the room positively buzzing.

After a skyscraping ‘All That I Got’ (a song that they’ve never played live before), Murray thanks us for the reception we’ve given them. We’re impressed, and with good reason. The four-piece could be world-beaters with songs like this. They have a great live presence too, gelling effortlessly: Murray’s switching between instruments like it’s going out of style; drummer Ian McDonnell’s a powerhouse behind his kit; Tommy O’Hara’s bass work packs a considerable punch; and Mark Calvey’s guitar is understated yet effective.

Closing with a triumphant ‘The Bitter End’ (with added singalong), the band offer yet more thanks, and then leave without further ado. They’re grateful to us for turning out en masse, we’re grateful to them for giving us a brilliant Saturday night. Take a bow. - Music Fan'sMic

Only formed last December, the rise of New Sunset Hotel has already been meteoric – six months later, their debut single The Bitter End was sat in the Top 10 of the Irish charts. It’s a feat all the more remarkable considering the song was only available via the band’s Myspace: no iTunes, no Amazon, no physical copies.
Yet it seemed like anyone who’d heard it, or caught one of the quartet’s increasingly fevered gigs, was desperate to get hold of such an anthem whatever it took. We here at WET stumbled across the band by accident just before The Bitter End’s release, via the excellent Irish music blog MF Mic, and couldn’t believe the demos on New Sunset Hotel’s Myspace. Surely this was a band already nestled in Top 10s around the world, their stirring anthems bypassing any rational thought to kick you straight in the guts?
> Sure enough, chart fever meant it’s taken us some time to nab the band, and we’re incredibly proud to give a full British release to The Bitter End – and its equally festival-bound B-Side, Eyes – on October 25. Never mind Myspace, it’ll finally be available on all major digital retailers, along with limited CD and 7” copies.
This, we confidently predict, is a band who aren’t stopping until their hotels are as familiar across the world as the Hilton...

- Wet Records