Cork Shoegaze Quartet Ways of Seeing Release New Album 'The Inheritance of Fear'

Cork shoegaze quartet Ways of Seeing are set to release their highly anticipated second album, The Inheritance of Fear, on 10th October via Joyful Hour Records. Building on the momentum of their debut, the record marks a significant evolution in James O’Donnell’s songwriting, blending intimate storytelling with lush, textured arrangements that probe the reverberations of trauma, loss, and anxiety.

Drawing inspiration from literature, lived experience, and the inherited traits passed through generations, O’Donnell delivers an astute meditation on the psychological weight of past fears—how we inherit them, how we confront them, and how they shape the people we become.

The album is led by the single "Last Wave," which O’Donnell describes as a reflection on unchosen inheritances: “The fear, the darkness, the faults and the complicated legacies of the past. I was especially taken by Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s poem ‘An Experiment to Engineer an Inheritance of Fear,’ reflecting on the Irish Famine and its lingering wounds. The song examines our Irish identity—our colonial past and Catholic upbringing—and considers that to live with the darkness is to live more fully.”

Ways of Seeing emerged after an intense eighteen-month period in which O’Donnell amassed a vast collection of material in his home studio. Having previously played in Hush War Cry and Dublin-based Dear Desert, O’Donnell had contemplated stepping back from music entirely. “Before End Comes to Light, I put music on the back burner and didn’t know if I’d return,” he says. But during the pandemic, he found himself with time and voice notes, ready to channel ideas that would later form the band’s 2022 debut.

With The Inheritance of Fear, O’Donnell pushed the band’s sonic palette further. Experimenting with interfaces, plug-ins, and virtual amps, he crafts an immersive world of intertwining guitar motifs, slinky bass lines, sparkling synths, and dynamic percussion. The record navigates alternative rock, shoegaze, post-punk, and indie textures while maintaining a deeply personal narrative core.

Literary and psychological texts informed much of the album’s thematic weight. O’Donnell cites Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle, Bessel Van Der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, Gabor Maté’s psychology lectures, and Ní Ghríofa’s poetry as central inspirations. “Some of the songs are explicitly about inherited trauma, while others hint at it or link to my own history,” he explains.

The recording process was not without challenges. O’Donnell battled illness affecting his vocals and grieved the loss of close friend and former bandmate Eoin French of Talos. This grief led to the creation of the instrumental "Solat," a tribute to French, whose influence on O’Donnell’s songwriting was profound.

Once recovered, O’Donnell collaborated with producer Daniel Fox (Gilla Band, Sprints, Silverbacks) to bring the album’s guitar-forward arrangements to life. The production balances intimacy with expansiveness, drawing on influences from Deafheaven, Protomartyr, Whipping Boy, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, New Order, and Tame Impala, resulting in a sound both heavier and more vibrant than the band’s debut.

The Inheritance of Fear demonstrates Ways of Seeing’s growing sophistication and their ability to marry introspective, narrative-driven songwriting with richly textured, compelling instrumentation. It solidifies the band as a distinctive voice within Ireland’s flourishing music scene, inviting listeners to confront the past without being defined by it.

Listen below: