Kingfishr: Finding Their Halcyon

On a damp September morning in London, Kingfishr are still buzzing from the night before. The Irish trio, made up of Eddie (vocals/guitar), McGoo (bass), and Fitz (drums) have just come off stage from another sold-out UK show, and instead of nursing hangovers or catching up on sleep, they’re sitting down to talk about Halcyon, their long-awaited debut album.

It’s a moment they’ve been building towards since they first emerged in 2021 with their soaring folk-rock sound: stormy, cinematic songs with choruses built for festival fields. In just three and a half years, they’ve gone from uploading early singles to TikTok to playing Wembley, supporting Dermot Kennedy, and headlining their own tours across Ireland, the UK, and beyond.

Now, with Halcyon, Kingfishr are finally stepping into their own.

A Journal in Song

The band are quick to admit they don’t have a neat elevator pitch for what the record “means.”

“Halcyon feels like a journal of the last three years,” Eddie explains. “We’ve put out more than 25 tracks already, singles, EPs and the album was about condensing all of that growth into one body of work. It’s us saying goodbye to that chapter, letting it go.”

Rather than building a polished concept album, Kingfishr let the songs do the talking. Some were already fan favourites, honed on the road; others were reworked in the studio with producer Dave Anthony Curley at The Clinic in Dublin. Together, they map out the band’s journey from ambitious newcomers to one of Ireland’s most exciting exports.

“People always ask what the album is about,” McGoo adds. “And the truth is, it’s not up to us. Once you release it, the songs belong to the people listening. Everyone makes their own meaning out of it.”

Growing Into Themselves

Kingfishr’s sound has evolved since their first singles, where lyrics leaned a little more abstract. Halcyon offers something sturdier, grounded in personal stories while still carrying that widescreen, cinematic edge.

“The sound has definitely grown,” Fitz says. “And lyrically, maybe we’ve got less airy-fairy. We realised people connect more with individual stories than with vague, big-picture stuff. We don’t write for other people, but we definitely write with the live show in mind now. That’s the heart of everything for us.”

If there’s one thing Kingfishr have learned, it’s that songs find their real shape in front of an audience. “You get on stage and suddenly it all makes sense,” Eddie says. “It’s not about streams or likes, it’s about that room full of people singing it back at you.”

The Live Fire

Live shows are where Kingfishr thrive, and it’s clear their rise has been powered less by algorithms and more by word-of-mouth, sweat, and sound. In Ireland, they’ve already outgrown venues at a dizzying pace, and on the continent, pockets of support have surprised even them.

“The Netherlands has been incredible,” Eddie laughs. “We played Lowlands Festival and thought maybe a couple hundred people would show up. Instead, 12,000 packed in. In a country where English isn’t even the first language. That blew our minds.”

At Fairview Park in Dublin earlier this year, they paused mid-song and simply let the crowd roar. The cheers swelled for minutes, hitting a peak of 127 decibels, loud enough to damage ears. “It was chaos,” McGoo grins. “But the best kind.”

For Kingfishr, the crowd isn’t just part of the show they are the show. “Sometimes it feels like we’re supporting the audience,” Fitz says. “We could stop playing, and they’d just keep going.”

Still Some Crack

Despite the growing scale, Kingfishr are determined not to lose sight of the joy that got them here in the first place.

“It feels less like work now and more like a session,” Eddie admits. “I’ve always loved house parties, weddings any excuse to sing at the top of my lungs. That was the dream, and now we’re living it.”

They’re candid about the pressures that come with momentum, but also quick to laugh them off. “Social media, streams, likes, those things don’t feel real,” McGoo shrugs. “What’s real is the crowd in front of you. That’s what we care about.”

And crucially: “It’s still fun. More fun than ever.”

What Comes Next

With Halcyon finally out in the world, Kingfishr are already looking ahead. They’ll headline Brixton Academy next year, a landmark moment for any rising band, and work on album two is well underway.

“We’ve got a good chunk of the second record done already,” Fitz reveals. “We don’t want to slow down. Rihanna dropped nine albums in ten years, maybe that’s the metric!”

They laugh, but the truth is, Kingfishr aren’t about to rest. Touring, writing, recording, it’s all part of the same rhythm, and they’re more in love with it now than ever.

“People come up to us and say, ‘You must be wrecked,’” Eddie says. “And sure, you get tired on the road. But tired of this? No chance. Mac DeMarco said touring is like an endless holiday with your best mates. That’s what it feels like. Three and a half years in, and I’m only getting hungrier for it.”

The Halcyon Days

For Kingfishr, Halcyon is both an ending and a beginning. It’s the close of their first chapter and the launchpad for everything that comes next. Bigger venues, bigger crowds, maybe even bigger songs, but always with the same wide-eyed sense of disbelief that people are really listening.

“Every gig still surprises us,” Eddie says. “We walk out expecting 15 people, and there are thousands. That never stops feeling surreal.”

The halcyon days might be behind them, but for Kingfishr, they’re also just beginning.

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Words by Sal F. - Photos by Ines B.