Universe Is Laughing

Over the past five years Dublin-based alt-folk duo The Guggenheim Grotto has touched audiences in a way members Kevin May and Mick Lynch couldn't have imagined. From setting out as Dublin songwriter circuit regulars, to building a devoted cult following in the U.S. with warm embraces from media, the band has captivated audiences and tastemakers on both sides of the pond and undergone considerable personal growth along the way. Now, poised to release its third album, The Guggenheim Grotto firmly holds its ground with a lyrical journey through life s beautiful mysteries that sees Kevin and Mick further develop themes of self-discovery and enlightenment they first visited on 2009's Happy The Man. Largely written and recorded in hotels and living rooms while crossing this wide country on tour, The Universe Is Laughing is an ode to lovers and madmen as much as a shout out to carnival hucksters and easy mystics. It celebrates the joy of falling in love and then forgetting what all the fuss was about. It preaches sticking to your guns, fighting the good fight and standing with your hands hung loosely by your side. It's about marching, chopping wood, highways, girls wearing pretty dresses, sinking churches, ghost towns, chasing answers, getting drunk, rabbits and weasels, tiny white lies, the sun, the moon and the whole damn universe. It's about dancing in the grey. Perhaps what is different this time round is that those ideas are less visible at first glance, said primary songwriter Kevin May. But listen to the title track The Universe Is Laughing, a paean to the mystery of the passage of time and our brief but beautiful existence. Or hear Mick's powerful vocal on Concentrate. He starts out a wounded lover but in the second verse he's transfigured and sounds like a prophet, one who should be listened to. The Universe Is Laughing will be released on United for Opportunity on June 15, 2010. The band will spend a significant amount of time in the U.S