Thursday 05th November 2026
Location: Cleeres Bar and Theatre, 28 Parliament Street, Kilkenny
In stock
Love or its absence dominates the intimate songs on the new album from ARBORIST – out October 2026 – the musical outlet of Belfast’s Mark McCambridge. Titled Looking for Love, we find protagonists scouring the dark corners of his home city, wiling-away afternoons in strip clubs, wandering the streets in all weather and reflecting on the harsh reality of the modern world, all in search of an elusive love – emphasising our need for it now more than ever.
It is ARBORIST’s 4th LP and the first self-produced by McCambridge, largely from his home studio in Belfast – and at times it feels like we are present with him there in the room. These quiet hours are clearly where McCambridge feels most at ease – after all, this is a singer Bill Drummond has described as writing songs, “riven with more loss than any record since Leonard Cohen quit this world”, who Kim Deal chose to sing in beautiful, intertwined harmony with on debut single Twisted Arrow and who Matthew E White and his Spacebomb band collaborated with to such astonishing effect on the previous Arborist LP.
Spacebomb’s resident bassist Cameron Ralston (Bonnie Light Horseman, Hiss Golden Messenger) again features throughout, alongside Eamon Ferris (The Waterboys) on drums and Ben McAuley (Van Morrison) engineering. It calls to mind albums such as Songs Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co., The Divine Comedy’s Regeneration, The Blue Nile’s Hats and Wilco’s Ode to Joy, as well as early-70s records from John Cale, John Lennon and Bill Fay.
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Having played alongside the likes of Cat Power, Echo & the Bunnymen and Public Service Broadcasting, and sang with Kim Deal (Pixies, Breeders), Belfast-based McCambridge took the critical acclaim, success and unique production and songwriting of his first 2 LPs to new heights with 2023’s An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros. It was recorded in Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia alongside producer Matthew E White and with the legendary Spacebomb Houseband, it is a record full of melody and lush arrangements which went on to win the prestigious Northern Ireland Music Prize 2023. MOJO Magazine called it, “Mesmerising…a brilliant exploration of just how inventive Americana can be – ★★★★” with UNCUT declaring it, “An impeccable, gently Americana-flavoured third – 8/10”. With plays from Cillian Murphy, Cerys Matthews, Lauren Laverne and Frank Skinner, it culminated in a rousing BBC 6 Music Live Session on Riley & Coe.
2026 is set to take things up a notch once again.
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“A saggering debut of depth and substance” – UNCUT
“An instant classic” – The Guardian
“Devastatingly bleak…upliftingly beautiful” – Mojo
“A poignant, beautiful record” – Lauren Laverne BBC6Music
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