I am three tracks into Perfect Place, the latest album from Lemoncello, the Dublin-based duo of Laura Quirke and Claire Kinsella, and I have already concluded that there is no danger of any second-album syndrome here. Track three is a monster of a piece, and maybe there is something equally dark and dangerous in the lyric – At The Edge runs to six minutes; it takes its time to allow the tension at the song’s core to wrap itself around you. Just like the underworld that the singers imagine in the first verse, standing at a cliff’s edge, the footing is at times stable and precarious. The music lolls and slumbers, it moves up on you like a slow incoming tide, the harmoniously connected voices of our singing duo suggest an offering of comfort, but you just know there are hidden layers; what is that dagger in the back pocket of someone’s jeans doing there exactly? The song builds; some percussion picks up the tempo, and the violins, present from the beginning, only now begin to fly, swoop, and swipe, like birds of prey bursting down from up on high. Then it fades, the water subsides, and we are left wondering just what this seismic change is, what moment of transition awaits, and how devastating is it going to be on the other side for our narrators? Like all the heaviest moments in life, it feels like once committed, there will be no turning back; just as there will not be for the two figures desperately clinging on to a high-hanging structure for dear life on the album’s front cover. You want music for grown-ups with adult concerns? This album is in with a shout then.
Lemoncello, returning with their second album, still carry the quiet confidence of a duo who have already carved out a distinctive place in contemporary Irish folk. Since their debut, Laura Quirke and Claire Kinsella have continued to refine the intimate, instinctive interplay that first brought them to our attention, the kind of vocal and instrumental chemistry that seems to snap into focus the moment they perform together. Their rise has been steady as they have deservedly earned wider audiences, while their songwriting resonates far beyond the grassroots circuit. That first record, also released on Claddagh, was captured directly to tape under the guidance of analogue devotee Julie McLarnon. It revealed a duo drawn to texture, tactility, and the human imperfections that make recorded music feel alive. It also hinted at curiosity about how their sound might expand and how their voices and stories might sit within bolder, more exploratory production. So, this next chapter from two musicians with ever-expanding creative worlds is a welcome addition to our 2026 music collections.
Any attempts to predict where this is going to take the listener are redundant. A song called Karaoke Night is another outstanding piece of music, but not necessarily for the reasons you might guess. For starters, a song with that title might be assumed to be upbeat. Not a bit of it, this is a heavy-hearted ballad with an arrangement that evokes the nature of a chamber quartet. So maybe then you might expect a critique of the karaoke culture from a puritan’s perspective? Nothing so trivial. But it plays like a scene from a kitchen-sink drama, or a Mike Leigh film; the narrator finds herself in unfamiliar terrain on a karaoke night as the stitching of her personal life gets snagged on the lyric of a Beyoncé song and begins to painfully unravel. It could just be the best song about karaoke you have ever heard. Meet Me Half Way is mournful and almost desperate in its frustration at an absence of human connection. It does not sugarcoat the sorrow, but I love the little bits of Irish vernacular that appear in the dialogue, such as the “are you not thirty and three” heard in this song.
There is a satisfying arc to the album, opener Clear Eyes Open Ready working as an overture whose echoes are reprised on the record’s closing title track. Tomorrow Nostalgia sees a gear shift, a sideways slide into a pop-oriented territory complete with swooning chorus lines. Again, though, there is depth and an overwhelming sense of detachment and isolation that permeates. Here our singer has a friendship group intruding on her reverie with incitements to party as she finds herself existentially “dreaming about tomorrow, now tomorrows in the past. Problem is if the moments already over, it’s never going to last.” Articulate Animal digs into muddier ground, releasing grooves and production depths that point to potential future sonic expeditions. The pure beauty heard in the later ballad Unfinished Business could arguably be a literal metaphor for this album, for Lemoncello have returned and impressively built on their first steps two years ago, proving, as I sensed back then, that there was a lot more to come, but this album is so strong it makes my previous forecasts look laughably modest.
Perfect Place (May 8th, 2026) Claddagh Records
Order/Stream: https://lemoncello.lnk.to/PerfectPlace
Tour Dates
Wed 6 May – Glasgow, UK (Joshua Burnside support)
Thu 7 May – Leeds, UK (Joshua Burnside support)
Fri 8 May – The Jacaranda, Liverpool, UK (Album Launch Headline Show)
Sat 9 May – Stroud, UK (Joshua Burnside support)
Sun 10 May – London, UK (Joshua Burnside support)
Mon 11 May – Bristol, UK (Joshua Burnside support)
Tue 12 May – Theatreship, London, UK (Album Launch Headline Show)
29–31 May – Night & Day Festival, Roscommon, IE
24–26 July – Deer Shed Festival, UK
23–26 July – WOMAD Festival, UK
Wed 23 Sept – Cyprus Avenue, Cork, IE
Fri 25 Sept – The Button Factory, Dublin, IE
Sun 27 Sept – Spirit Store, Dundalk, IE
Wed 30 Sept – Róisín Dubh, Galway, IE
Thu 1 Oct – Cleere’s, Kilkenny, IE
Fri 2 Oct – Phil Grimes, Waterford, IE
Tue 6 Oct – Glad Cafe, Glasgow, UK
Wed 7 Oct – Gullivers, Manchester, UK
Thu 8 Oct – The Attic, Leeds, UK
Fri 9 Oct – Hallamshire Hotel, Sheffield, UK
Sun 11 Oct – Peggys Skylight, Nottingham, UK
Tue 13 Oct – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham, UK
Wed 14 Oct – Architect, Bristol, UK
Thu 15 Oct – St Pancras Old Church, London, UK
Fri 16 Oct – Folklore Rooms, Brighton, UK
Sun 18 Oct – The Wight Bear, Southbourne, UK
Thu 22 Oct – Limelight 1, Belfast, UK