Though the seeds of the project were sown back in starry-eyed mid-2000s, the music of Belfast-based five-piece New Pagans is the antithesis of some cut-rate nostalgia trip. Headed by vocalist Lyndsey McDougall, and comprising Cahir O’Doherty, previously of Northern Irish alt-rock trailblazers Fighting With Wire and Jetplane Landing, bassist Claire Miskimmin of Girls Names, drummer Conor McAuley of Balkan Alien Sound and guitarist Allan McGreevy, they are a band currently charging the way for a brand new generation of forward-thinking, fist-clenched guitar music in Northern Ireland.

Having emerged via the sonic shock-and-awe of debut single 'Lily Yeats/I Could Die’, the band have released a string of emphatic singles while resisting the urge to rush things. Bursting with melodic turns, and coloured with their very own dark, taut musicality, New Pagans’ music bounds forth with a conviction normally reserved for outfits many years into their career. Their output to date has struck a mid-point between hook-laden post-hardcore and impassioned art-rock leanings to forge a singular alt-rock sound.