All Smiles Tonight, the debut album from Irish trio Poor Creature, feels like a new high point in the constantly evolving experimental folk scene centred around Dublin. It’s an alchemical fusion of drone-folk and glitchy, ambient-leaning electronica, a joyously constructed exploration of grief and loss, and a thoroughly modern foray into ancient musical territory. Members Ruth Clinton (from Niamh & Ruth and Landless), Cormac MacDiarmada of Lankum, and John Dermody from The Jimmy Cake (and live drummer for Lankum) have been close to the centre of the Irish scene for a while now, so when KLOF got the chance to talk to MacDiarmada and Clinton about their new album, it was only natural that we should kick things off by asking them just why that scene is so fertile at the moment.
For MacDiarmada, it comes down to a combination of history and confidence: ‘I think it’s always been there to a certain degree, though I think at the moment there’s a collective confidence in general. A lot of these musicians are also just great traditional musicians and singers. They still go to sessions. It doesn’t in any way dilute the sacredness within it but kinda takes the essence and applies it to other forms. It absolutely enhances it. Also the lines are blurred as they should be because genres and what they entail within a popular culture context can sometimes be a bit reductive. It assumes understanding without curiosity.’
That blurring of lines is evident right across All Smiles Tonight: it’s an album that is satisfyingly tough to pin down. Part of this might be down to the way it was recorded, with the band being driven by the nature of the instruments they were using. This instrument-led approach seems novel, but for MacDiarmada it came naturally.
‘It’s not a new way for me. I love going into the studio and just seeing what happens. Messing about with whatever sounds and noises that build up in the conscious and subconscious. That’s not to say that there isn’t prep or planning involved. On two of the tracks there’s a small hand held extremely cute synth called Otomatone that we got a lend off our good friend Chris. It’s kinda got an 808/techno feel to it so we just used it as a dance backbeat. That might not have been used that way if it didn’t sound like that, if that makes sense. So it’s possible the sound dictated the mood, though I’ve been listening to electronica for a long time, a lot of Warp Records in my teens and twenties so the building blocks are there.’
However it came about, the album’s overall mood is one of loss, though MacDiarmada can’t say whether that was entirely intentional.
‘I’m not sure to be honest. We sing a lot of sad songs anyway; that’s just what we’re into. There’s also a juxtaposition in the playfulness and the sombre. You can have the most major/cheerful melody with the loneliest lyrics. Which is definitely there in All Smiles.’
‘I don’t think it was a conscious decision,’ adds Ruth Clinton. ‘I reckon we’re just drawn to songs that evoke a particular mood. It was only when we looked back at the album as a whole that we spotted the common threads. And although some of the lyrics are quite sad, I think there’s a playfulness in the music itself.’
Another clue to the album’s overall sound might be found in the details of Poor Creature’s formation. The project started life in Covid lockdown, a time when physical collaboration was more difficult. Was there something about the pandemic that fostered a new kind of creativity? MacDiarmada thinks so:
‘Having the time to be creative was a massive factor. The world collectively slowed down though under such batshit/scary circumstances. A lot of people were left twiddling their thumbs so why not mess about and make things. We were lucky to have a room of our own to work in and Ruth had a 70’s vintage synth called the Organetta. It has a great drum machine that she put through a distortion. It provided some building blocks and start point.’
‘I had more time on my hands to devote to previously unthinkable follies, such as learning the theremin,’ Clinton concurs.
Which brings us to the strange and singular nature of the album’s sound. The thing that will strike many listeners is the contrast between the taut, dark rhythms and the more delicate melodies. It makes for a beguiling listen, but where does this tension come from? Was it down to the different members’ varied musical backgrounds?
‘We’re all into many different things, with plenty of crossover,’ says MacDiarmada, ‘So it all filters down and gets stripped back. The drum machine provided that kinda industrial saltiness and John’s drumming has among many things a krautrock/doom feel at times.’ He goes on to talk about the particular contrasts evident in the song Draighean Donn, mentioning the ‘rapid fire movement’ and the ‘ecstatic bounce’ of Dermody’s drums, but also the ‘slow ennui’ of the ‘drifting looped vocals and strings. These elements and the schmaltz heartbreak of the songs kinda made this juxtaposition that we’re into. Felt like a good marriage from the outset. There’s also trust in one another, which makes for a more unfiltered creative space when needed.
The trio obviously place a high value on the creative interpretations of the well-known and often traditional material they specialise in. So what made them go down the traditional route in the first place, rather than writing their own songs?
‘The traditional route is something myself and Ruth have been doing for years,’ says MacDiarmada. ‘John also loves roots/traditional music too. There’s no active decision with these things for my own part. I’m into what I’m into and it filters down.’
Clinton is keen to point out that they are open to change too: ‘We’re definitely not ruling out self-written material in the future.’
While Poor Creature’s music is all about surprises, one of the most unexpected things about All Smiles Tonight is its title, which at first seems at odds with the emotional pitch of the content. Clinton implies that this choice was less about irony and more about the subtlety and mutability of human emotions. ‘I think, despite the melancholy, that there is humour in the work, which maybe comes through more obviously in the videos we make. There’s also something about smiling through difficult times. We’re all just doing our best in this life!’
This is felt most keenly in a wonderful cover of Ray Lynam and Philomena Begley’s The Whole Town Knows. Ray and Philomena seem like a uniquely Irish phenomenon, and non-Irish listeners might benefit from a bit of context. Clinton is happy to oblige, explaining why ‘country and Irish’ artists have such lasting popularity in Ireland, and why Poor Creature chose that particular song.
‘Country and Irish is extremely popular in the North West where Cormac and I live, so I guess it’s on our radar. For Irish people who emigrated to the UK, at a time when the Church was still powerful, listening to those bands singing about divorce and cheating etc. would have been a liberating experience. This song was chosen when we were putting some music together for a radio play that I was making with my visual collaborator Niamh Moriarty about a local government plot to relocate a round tower.’
Other material was chosen in more familiar ways, consistent with the organic growth of folk music and its easy movement from person to person. ‘Many of the songs are ones that one of us sings solo anyway, or had learned at singing sessions over the years, says Clinton. ‘Two of the songs, Adieu Lovely Erin and Willie-O were picked up from the brilliant singer Donal Maguire.’
Aside from traditional music (and country and Irish), there are a wide variety of influences on show in All Smiles Tonight, from dream pop to experimental minimalism. ‘We’re all fans of Cocteau Twins so there might be bits of that in there,’ Macdiarmada explains. ‘Most of the inspiration is sub subconscious, you take bits and pieces from here and there or try to make sounds or feelings using things at hand. I love cyclical repeated riffs and/or moods. Holding the moment and maybe making subtle changes here and there. Steve Reich was a big influence with that. Also myself and Ruth love playing Old-time sessions. Going on the 8th rotation of a tune and locking it. For myself, I have a bunch of things on rotation, which changes a good bit. Post Punk Podge has a new EP out, there’s a track on it called Johnny Turpentine which is so so good. I have listened to Gary Moore’s Over the Hills and Far Away a ridiculous amount of times in the last two months. Very much enjoying Billy Woods, Ammar 808, and the label June Appal.’
Clinton adds: ‘I am a big fan of Ellen Arkbro. I don’t know if it filtered into this album but, as an organist, it is reflective of where I’m coming from in terms of sustained drones. I’ve been listening to Low’s final album a lot, as well as Declan Synnott’s latest release Colloquialism.’
The other big element in Poor Creature’s sound – and on many other Irish folk albums of the last decade – is John ‘ Spud’ Murphy. Clinton is effusive in her praise for one of the most in-demand producers around. ‘Spud is an expert at fostering an open and creative space in the recording studio, as well as obviously being a master engineer and excellent musician himself. We are very lucky to get to work with him.’ And MacDiarmada agrees. ‘He knows how and when to fill space both sonically and musically. Extremely patient and calm, can always get that little bit extra out of you.’
A common thread in Murphy-produced albums is the way they often seem to slip between genre boundaries, or to inhabit two or more different musical spaces at once. While All Smiles Tonight is obviously indebted to folk music, it doesn’t always feel like a folk album. There is an otherness to it which serves to enhance its melancholic quality. So, is it folk? Clinton and MacDiarmada approach the question from different angles. ‘I never know about genres,’ says Clinton. ‘Especially when music contains lots of different influences. The term folk also has different connotations in Ireland. We have a continuous and living tradition of singing, dancing, storytelling and instrumental music. Although bands like the Dubliners would have been associated with the folk movement in the 1960s, most of our old music is not part of a revival. So, if by folk we mean acoustic music, or protest music, or an expression of a constructed national identity, then no, Poor Creature is not folk…!’
‘Yeah you could call it folk music,’ says Macdiarmada, ‘with the added caveat that it’s different from the folk music from before. That goes for loads of music being released. Folk music has wandered in different directions though it’s always had weird elements, in a good way. Also if you engage with the idea that it’s fluid and not fixed in definition then it’s different from folk clubs of the 70s or 80s. It’s also important to not think you understand something inherently based on genre. I think it can kill curiosity.’
These answers are contrasting but not mutually exclusive. ‘You’re right from your side, I’m right from mine,’ as Dylan once sang. And that might go some way to explaining the appeal of Poor Creature. It is a music of different angles, where light and darkness appear differently depending on how they are approached. And how refreshing it is to hear an album that allows space for this kind of nuance. If All Smiles Tonight is folk music, it is folk music of a new, challenging and highly rewarding kind.
All Smiles Tonight (July 11th, 2025) River Lea
Order/Save: https://poorcreature.ffm.to/allsmiles
Forthcoming Poor Creature Tour Dates:
July 12th – Spin dizzy instore, Dublin
July 14th – Rough Trade East Instore, London
Aug 31st – Supersonic Festival, Birmingham
Sep 12th – The Duncairn, Belfast
Sep 16th – The Attic, Leeds
Sep 17th – The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Sep 18th – The Larder House, Southbourne – Wandering Bear Presents
Sep 19th – Strange Brew, Bristol
Sep 20th – Subterranean Festival, London Royal Festival Hall, London
Sep 21st – YES, Manchester
Nov 27th – The Button Factory, Dublin