Cavan duo dirty marmalade release their debut album 'Hills of Breifne'

Gloriously unhinged, Hills of Breifne is dirty marmalade's manifesto, letting Ireland's rural revolutionaries know that it's OK to be different.

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Album: Hills of Breifne

Band: dirty marmalade

Released: May 30 2025

In a parallel universe (admittedly one probably setup by us), track six XIX:XI from dirty marmalade's debut long player Hills of Breifne would be a massive smash. It's the creative high point of a remarkable, refreshing take on what a lo-fi, low tech guitar and drums duo can produce. According to writer and artist Wyndham Lewis, the first creation of an artist is themselves in which case with dirty marmalade we now have a wholly satisfying intersection of artist and art.

Comprising Donny McAvenue (aka Lil’ Phynott) on guitar and Emil Kapusta (Mildly Fool!sh) on drums and production, dirty marmalade didn't craft Hills of Breifne in a hipster city centre studio fuelled by cold brew coffee and chia puddings. They masterminded this antidote to the concept that nothing creative happens in rural Ireland in vacant houses and B&Bs from Donegal to Leitrim, even family members' houses.

It simultaneously skewers and celebrates rural humdrum, boredom, substance abuse and as they say "... an apathetic landscape of boy-racers, yup bros and GAA lovers."

Hills of Breifne confronts rural apathy, social microcliques, substance use and outsider life with wry irony and emotional authenticity.

The opening tracks Why Else? and Hills of Breifne introduce the duo's sound with some Cure/Smiths style jangle and slightly funky syncopation on the latter but they don't really prepare you for what's to come.

Waster starts off with a hint of what grunge might have been if it started in Cavan rather than Seattle. It then breaks down with psych edged spoken word - these snippets of voicemails, drunken rants and drive by dialogue appear through the rest of the album, including the jazz inflected, Strokesy Jampa Ling. Like a DIY Since I Left You but with no sample clearances required.

Król Markus II and XIX:XI are the highpoints on the album where their influences of jazz, hip hop, soul and grunge collide in a creative whirlpool. It may just be me but I swear I can hear elements of Cameo and Prince in XIX:XI .

Emil’s DIY mixing and Donny’s songwriting deliver an album that feels immediate, authentic, rooted in place and detonates latent feelings of rebellion.

The remaining tracks, while not quite hitting those heights, are still a remarkable fusion of influences wherein you can hear everything from Prefab Sprout and Deacon Blue to Kneecap and jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. Last track Big Giant Jelly Baby with it's "you are a fucking hypocrite" refrain is a fantastic closer as it channels the until now unexplored 'The Fall meet Beastie Boys' niche.

Tight and propulsive, Hills of Breifne confronts rural apathy, social microcliques, substance use and outsider life with wry irony and emotional authenticity. The album’s spontaneous field recordings serve a clear narrative: life in provincial Ireland. It is the sound of creative outsiders staking their claim. It’s brittle and beautiful, defiant and curious - like stumbling on a cool lo-fi film score about rural revolution. Emil’s DIY mixing and Donny’s songwriting deliver an album that feels immediate, authentic, rooted in place and detonates latent feelings of rebellion.

If you don't like it that's fine, move on. For those who actively rail against it, go back to Mumford and Sons. This music is objectively a creative, authentic piece of art.

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