M(h)aol – “DM:AM” [Video]

Based in Dublin, Belfast, and London, Irish intersectional feminist firebrands M(h)aol — Constance Keane (She/Her), Jamie Hyland (She/Her), and Sean Nolan (He/Him) — are excited to announce their new album Something Soft out May 16 on Merge Records (pre-order). In anticipation of the release, the band is sharing their latest single, “DM:AM,” along with an accompanying video.

On the new single ‘DM:AM’, the band says, “This song is about men DM’ing women online and then getting aggressive when they don’t get the response they want. They quickly turn to insults about the women, and then once the woman says she’ll expose what they’ve done, she gets a laundry list of reasons why he behaves like this and how much he has to lose, which is meant to make the women feel sorry for them.”

M(h)aol has also announced U.S. tour dates in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle, and they will perform at this year’s SXSW Music Festival. Upcoming shows are listed below and tickets are on sale now.

M(h)aol have built a reputation for thrilling live performances, fostering an atmosphere that encourages community and catharsis regardless of where they play. After their captivating set at SXSW in 2023, the band signed with Merge Records and released the North American reissue of their debut full-length album Attachment Styles that fall. The band followed the album with singles “Pursuit,” and, “Snare,” the latter being a fierce anthem that boldly defies gender expectations with biting wit..

From the first note of Something Soft’s opening track to the distorted cries of its last, the record feels antagonistic to the very concept of softness, sonically and thematically. It’s an unapologetic approach to intersectional feminism, animal welfare, consumerism, and the struggle to find a place in a world lacking in empathy.

Something Soft features a more urgent sound wound tightly around Hyland and Keane’s rhythm. On the already released singles “Pursuit” and “Snare,” Keane’s vocals lock in on her drums, as if her words were stirred to life by her playing, issued directly from her body. Set against those respectively anxious and swaggering tracks, her voice occupies the space of an inner monologue narrating a tense walk home, and green room misogyny from a place of droll observance.  

Like its predecessors Attachment Styles and the Gender Studies EP, Something Soft was recorded by Jamie Hyland (who has also worked with Gilla Band, Lambrini Girls’ acclaimed debut, The Psychotic Monks). It is the most technically nimble of M(h)aol’s recordings to date, with the band – joined by Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra’s Sarah Deegan on bass – decamping to Dublin’s Ailfionn Studio where they took advantage of the space and studio equipment to bring more nuance to their sound.  The polish serves to highlight M(h)aol’s roguish charms, making the intimate feel anthemic, using personal experience to detail the broader systems we live under. For those who’ve come to recognize themselves in their songs, listening to Something Soft is like jumping into a long-running chat thread, full of fury and humor.

M(h)aol U.S. Tour Dates
March 12 – Austin, TX @ High Noon – Paste Magazine Showcase (4:20 set time)
March 12 – Austin, TX @ Hole in the Wall – Hoedown Throwdown
March 13 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas – Rough Trade Publishing Party (3pm set time)
March 13 – Austin, TX @ 13th Floor – Don Giovanni Showcase (12am set time)
March 14 – Austin, TX @ The Dead Rabbit – Full Irish Breakfast (3:30 pm set time)
March 14 – Austin, TX @ Zilker Brewing – Utopia Fest
March 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records (tickets)
March 17 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project (tickets)