Cable Boy: Forever 
(Self Release)
Dublin five-piece Cable Boy arrive with their long-awaited debut Forever, a record that feels both like a culmination of the band’s work so far and, more so, a clear statement of intent.
Having steadily built a reputation among Ireland’s emerging acts, the band lean confidently into that momentum here, delivering a project that balances atmosphere with urgency, borrowing from dreampop, shoegaze and indie on a 13-track album which captures moments of all three.
Album opener, PLCD, sets the tone gradually unravelling from the dotted sprawl of field recordings and fuzzy guitar squeals into a tight soundscape of chorus tinged guitars, boxy drums and driving bass. As the cool delivery of the vocals enters, the band’s blend of driving indie and atmospheric dreampop aesthetics is brought to the fore, exemplified by the twinkling synths, ultimately capturing the band’s self-labelled “Goth-Disco” aesthetic.
Track two Lets Go leans further into the dreampop realm with floating etherealism comparable to Cocteau Twins with smatterings of Slowdive and Bloc Party through the vocal delivery. Icarus continues this approach whilst bringing a more obvious shoegaze feel closer to bdrmm, thanks in part to the darker, more mysterious tone of the track, which builds through boxy radio-filtered vocal cuts to an explosive and vibrant climax.
Dark and brooding, yet danceable and packing a fun sense of energy, the album’s opening tracks capture exactly what Cable Boy are all about, and what makes them so exciting and fresh.
Breaking up the album’s flow in a cathartic release of grit and energy, Something In My Head, brings a driving wall of bright guitars and anthemic vocal lines, ultimately acting as a striking reset for the second half of the album before the boxy lo-fi of the interlude Watcher.
Toxic leans further into the synth pop side of the band’s sound, rich with beautifully placed overlapping guitars and harmonising vocal melodies. Purple (End Of The World) offers one of the band’s more direct moments delivered through a lo-fi dreampop gaze, while the driving title track Forever and the sprawling Drought offer some late highlights across the 13 tracks.
Production handled by Adam Shanahan, David Tapley, and the band themselves, leans into this duality. The album is polished and elegant but keeps a simplicity and a warming, real, live and pleasingly lo-fi texture, allowing the more expansive moments to breathe while giving the heavier sections the weight they demand.
At its core, Forever feels rooted in memory and intention. Frontman Semilore Olusa frames it as wanting to “To create something from the soul that feels like it’ll stand the test of time.
We wanted to make something that sounded like a Time Capsule filled with all inspiration, like events and feelings we experienced so far in our time as a band. I think we succeeded in making something for ourselves as well as other people in our community”
Forever may be a debut, but it rarely feels tentative. Instead, it presents a band already comfortable with their identity, whilst highlighting their unbridled potential and status as one of Ireland’s best new artists. This is a band hitting their stride and delivering music which feels raw, different, sincere, but above all, exciting.
Follow Cable Boy
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All words by Simon Lucas-Hughes. More writing by Simon Lucas-Hughes can be found at his author’s archive.
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