Myles Manley is a songwriter and alternative popstar from Sligo, Ireland, currently based in Dublin. His new album Cometh the Softies, out 20/11/2020, is the proud first release by Witter On, with distribution by Art for Blind / Cargo Records.

Click here to buy Cometh the Softies digitally / on 12" vinyl now .

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The Thin Air: No. 5 in top 50 Irish releases of 2020

Jersey Beat: Paul Silver's top 25 records of 2020

"... brimming with plenty of pop sensibilities as hooks abound, [Cometh the Softies] is an album that deserves the listeners undivided attention ... thought-provoking, sincere, biting and wildly funny"
The Quietus (album review)

"Highlighting topics such as gender, individualism, acceptance and disrespect, Manley is adept at laying bare evident inequities. Factor in the buoyant rumpus of the music and you have an end-of-year album for all seasons."
The Irish Times (album review)

"'Cometh The Softies' is at times introspective, at others surreal, a deep-dive into his remarkable imagination."
Clash Magazine (Shiteshow video premiere)

"[Cometh the Softies] is a remarkable document, with his left-field pop and multi-faceted lyricism - often allowing the personal and political to intersect - working on a variety of different levels. Indeed, Myles' free-thinking stance puts us in mind of Richard Dawson - not sonically, but more in the sheer independence running through their work."
Clash Magazine (Billy Drag vs Ed Sheerc*** video premiere)

"Cometh the Softies is a worthy and well overdue full length debut from one of the country's most unique artists."
The Thin Air (album review)

"This is one of the most unique, fascinating, and fun records I've heard this year."
Jersey Beat (album review)

"You can always rely on Myles Manley to bring some off-kilter goodness to your day."
Nialler9 (album announcement / video premiere)

"Myles Manley uses his persona 'like a suit of armour' but that doesn't prevent him from 'making work that is personal and touching.'"
GoldenPlec (feature / interview)

Cometh the Softies

Cometh the Softies by Myles Manley is a singularly thrilling mix of pop-song craftsmanship, outré rhythms and tightly-woven rock band dynamics. Originally conceived as Myles Manley's tongue-in-cheek contribution to the centenary of Ireland's 1916 Easter Rising, the project began as a set of folk songs written to jittery MPC500 backing. With Christopher Barry and Solamh Kelly enlisted as bandmates to reinterpret these frenetic beats, the music took a new breath of life, the lyrical focus widening to broad questions of identity and belonging. Ridicule by regimes of nationalism, capitalism and sexuality is evoked via the language of playground taunting, so too is an underlying transcendent mischief. The trio toured the UK and Irish DIY scenes extensively, sculpting the minimalistic and spirited live sound which is recorded faithfully on the album. The result is a music that acknowledges the anxiety of the listener in these desperate times, proffering a joyous clatter, and a thumb of the nose at bullying spectres.

Myles Manley

Originating in Sligo on the north-west coast of Ireland, Myles Manley is a singer/songwriter who has been releasing music as 'popstar' Myles Manley since 2012. With incisive and idiosyncratic songcraft, and a unique vision of the Irish experience, Myles Manley first distinguished himself with critically acclaimed releases Greatest Hits 2012-2013 (2013) and More Songs (2015).

Of mixed Irish and English heritage, Myles was born in York and spent his early life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and West Kirby before his family settled in Sligo when he was seven years old. While completing a degree in mathematics at Trinity College, Dublin he travelled to New York and became involved in the antifolk music scene centered on the East Village's Sidewalk Café, where he began writing what would become the music of Myles Manley. An arresting blend of art-rock, outsider folk and pop sensibility, Myles Manley's songs offer a pleasingly discordant cross of acerbic gloom and Whitmanian jubilance.

Back in Dublin, an ambitious trio of early EPs, a 'career in a year', were compiled as his debut album Greatest Hits 2012-2013, which, together with More Songs, earned plenty of critical attention and comparisons to everyone from R Stevie Moore to Anohni. These releases also saw the creation of a distinct persona via fantastical music videos, which has become a central part of Myles Manley's self-presentation, seen most recently in a new series titled Aaa (2020). In the last number of years, Myles Manley has toured the Irish and UK DIY scenes extensively with his three-piece band, with the aim of building a sustainable practice as a contemporary folk musician. His new album Cometh the Softies will be released in November 2020.

Press for Myles Manley's Previous Releases

"Myles Manley is one of those eccentric geniuses who light up their surroundings."
Clash Magazine (clashmusic.com)

"[Pay Me What I'm Worth] is an anthem for anyone who works below middle management... a gem."
Phil Taggart, BBC Radio 1

"Myles Manley Dances triumphantly in the 'Relax; Enjoy Your Night Upon The Town' video."
Single Premiere on The Fader

"an eye and ear for the twisted pop nugget ... adventurous live shows ... audacious ambition ... already showing a very impressive set of heels"
Irish Times

"MORE SONGS by MYLES MANLEY is helpful and very skilful."
Conor O'Brien (Villagers)

"completely one-of-a-kind artist ... hugely accomplished ... a brilliant and unconventional poetic mind"
The Thin Air (thethinair.net)

"when Manley wants, he can knock out a classic pop ear worm with the best of them."
Nialler9 (nialler9.com)

Best 50 Irish music videos of all time: 'Pay Me What I'm Worth' (no. 40)
Nialler9 (nialler9.com)

"without a hint of exaggeration, Manley is currently one of the best young singer-songwriters in the country and it’s only a matter of time until the rest of the world knows it."
Brian Coney, Across The Line, BBC Radio Ulster

"[I Love Her Family is] ... eleven minutes and five seconds of absorbing testament, miniscule reflections and mighty afflictions, roads explored and examined, conclusions reached and then forgotten again in the fog of it all."
GoldFlakePaint (www.goldflakepaint.co.uk)

"... if anything proves his unexcavated genius, it's 'Next Please', an ethereal, quivering, uplifting alt. pop anthem which pushes boundaries in all the right directions."
'Track of the Fortnight', Celina Murphy, Hot Press

"[Greatest Hits 2012 – 2013] is an album packed full of bangers, trillers, thumpers, chucklers, crooners and even the odd weepy. Well, perhaps you won’t cry but you’ll feel something. That’s the Manley magic."
Harmless Noise (harmlessnoise.ie)

"vocally distinctive ... it's as if someone tried to do an impression of Antony Hegarty and got it horribly, horribly wrong, but did it perfectly in tune and in turn sculpted their own vocal niche ... it's rare to find someone who's found a unique position in a band who operate with guitars, drums, bass, vocals and the usual fare, but somehow these guys have done it."
The Sound of Confusion (thesoundofconfusionblog.blogspot.co.uk)

"outlandishly interesting front man Manley is truly something to behold."
Golden Plec (goldenplec.com)

"[Myles Manley EP] is packed full of infectious, bittersweet melodies and you’ll come to love it like we do."
We Are Noise (wearenoise.com)