Growing up in Dun Laoghaire, a south-east seaside Dublin suburb, Connor O’Brien wrote his first song, aged just 12, a week after his older brother lent Conor his acoustic guitar. “Bizarrely enough, my first lyric was “When I’m walking down these streets, I feel like a monkey in the Arctic”. I haven’t told Domino that yet! The song was called ‘Psychic’, which was about being afraid of a psychic friend because he could read your thoughts. Yes, it was a weird one...”

After choosing the name Villagers - “I like the name because it doesn’t offend the songs” - O’Brien released...