Moncrieff and the journey to "maybe it's fine."

Moncrieff steps boldly into the spotlight with the release of his debut album, maybe it's fine., a record ten years in the making. The Waterford-born artist channels personal loss, artistic growth, and a kaleidoscope of sounds into twelve deeply emotional tracks. With over 40 million streams and fans ranging from Elton John to the late Avicii, his moment has clearly arrived. From gospel to liquid funk, the album is as genre-defying as it is heartfelt. In this interview, Moncrieff opens up about the journey behind the music and the stories that shaped it.

It feels like your last couple of years have been building up to one particular moment. When you say you've been working to build up to this moment, what exactly is it?

It's like putting out a collection of art that you feel truly represents you, all at once. Something you want to last a really long time, that you can go back to and say, "That's really, really good, and it represents me and tells my story from that time." Ultimately, it's an artistic thing. Of course, you want it to do well, be commercially successful, and for everyone to love it, but deep down, you just want to be able to listen to it yourself and think, "That's sick. That's really good." You want to be genuinely chuffed with what you've put out.

How long did it take for you to create Maybe It’s Fine?

God, that's a good question. The shortest time is probably around three years, but if you include all the time spent writing songs that might not have made it, it's probably closer to nine years.

But you released music in between. How did you select what went on the album, and was that a difficult process?

Yeah, I mean, I was lucky. I had a publishing deal and my manager. Up until now, I hadn't been in an album cycle, so all my time was spent writing for what was coming next, or for the album, you know. I had been doing EPs or mixtapes, and I was continuously writing during that time. I don't know how I ended up with what I did. I guess there was maybe six months towards the end of the mixtape cycle where I thought, "Yeah, I'm going to try banging out a couple more songs for the album." But some of the songs on this album are like six years old. "Dashboard Confession" was the last song we recorded for the album; it wasn't even on the album initially. We just decided last minute, "Yeah, it's so good, we should put it on the album." That came out in November, but it was written in 2017 or 2018.

Now that it's out, how do you feel about it being number one in Ireland?

I feel really good. It feels great. I didn't do it for chart stuff, but it's nice to have a little moment like that. It's not everyday that happens to people, so it's nice to appreciate it. I guess I'm trying to tackle the promotion side now and not worry about it too much. Just have fun with it on social media and promote it in a way that isn't silly, you know. In a way that feels true to me. Yeah, exactly. So it's great, it's really fun. I'm enjoying the celebration of having an album out. I'm already thinking, "What's next?" Obviously, I want to promote this as much as I can, but at the same time, I'm going to start writing again. June is already booked up with sessions because I haven't written at all for the last three, four, five months. So June is crazy with writing sessions.

Are we talking about a second project? It might be too early to say.

Oh, yeah, I mean, let's see where it gets to, but I've been dying to get back to writing for a while. It helps me feel like an artist at the end of the day because right now I'm not touring.

And you're going soon ...

Yeah, touring-wise, I've got a couple of shows in August and then November, December. Right now, it's just very promotional, which is good. But there's also the writing and the gigging side. There are like three points, and if you're only doing one of three, it feels incomplete, you know? You need to be doing at least two of three.

Let's talk about the album, "maybe it's fine." Do you have a favorite song?

It changes all the time. I think it has to be "Hard Feelings." I really like "Hard Feelings," it's just got a vibe. And yeah, I'm really happy with that song. I also like "How For Free" for some reason.

Is it a really personal album?

Always.

What is the message you want to deliver with it? What do you expect people to think or feel when they listen to it, if anything?

"maybe it's fine." is like the final, resounding mantra. I wanted to make an album that represented my growth and my journey over the last 10 years. Inadvertently, what it turned into was the story of my twenties, really, through the lens of various relationships: romantic relationships, relationships with my family, and my relationship with myself. So it's that story of growing up and growing pains, and for me personally, it was trying to figure out my place in the world, having lost my brother and my sister. Just trying to figure that out, making mistakes, and just being a human being.

I guess at the end of it, when I realized all these things, like, I made some things that worked out really well. There were times where I felt invincible, and there were times where I felt I didn't want to live anymore. There were relationships that crashed and burned for the right reasons, and then there were other relationships where I broke my own heart. So many things made up this journey. At the end of it, I realized that all the highest highs and all the lowest lows are what made me the perfectly flawed person I am today. It's okay to be a flawed human being, you know? We're all inherently flawed, and we're all growing, we're all making mistakes, and we don't have control over the things that happen to us, you know?

We wish we could.

Yeah, I know. I think we spend a lot of time trying to... yeah. We spend so much effort and energy trying to control things. So for me, I wanted to come up with something that didn't just wash that away, but was a kind viewpoint for self-reflection. A kind way to look at it. "maybe it's fine." that that relationship bombed. Maybe it's fine that you didn't get signed until you were 28. Maybe it's fine that your relationship with your family isn't where you want it to be yet. Maybe it's fine. Give yourself a little bit of a break, you know? Mentally and emotionally, and try to be a better voice inside your own head.

So "maybe it's fine." was sort of like a therapy session for you, I guess?

One hundred percent, yeah. Music is like a lot of art in that sense, but yeah, it helps make sense of what's going on in my head.

What do you think is the difference between the music on this album, specifically, and what you used to release previously—your previous mixtapes and EPs?

That's a good question. The main thing is that it's always personal and always true. I'm always trying to be the truest version of myself, and I'd love for people to connect to my music and hopefully find the truest version of themselves while listening to something that's really honest, you know? They connect to it in their own way. So yeah, being honest and being truthful is the most important thing. It's not about having the same instruments in there, because there's always something else going on.

I think I'm growing into it. It feels like the first half of the album is where I'm kind of going, which is a bit more fluid. The second half is where I kind of come from, which is very ballad-led, very singer-songwriter, ballad-heavy. I think "fluid" is the best word for where I'm going. The sound is just less strict, you know? With "Warm" and those EPs, it was very much, "It's either going to be a piano or a guitar and a big gospel-led chorus." That's been great, and that was really great for me because I love singing, and I'm always going to have big-sounding songs. But I want to move into something that's just a little bit more eclectic, you know, and see where it goes. Try to say something or sing something that sounds really loud and really big, but not necessarily going there, you know? But we'll see how we get on.

The album is out. You have a lot of shows happening in the next couple of months. What's next for you?

I'm playing my biggest shows ever in Ireland, which is going to be fun. Like, two towns not too far from me, and then another city in Limerick where it's going to be crazy. I think it's like 5,000 capacity, which is fun. And I'm probably going to release another little something like that, maybe a deluxe version. I'm thinking about a couple of things before the end of the summer.

Ireland has great artists. There's a lot of great music coming out of it.

It really is, isn't there? You, Dermot Kennedy, Adam, Kingfishr, Amble. It needs to be more female artists. I mean, I know there are, but there aren't many. Cat's great. We need more female artists.

My last question would be, what are you listening to now?

That's a good question. Um, Fleetwood Mac.

Do you listen to your own music?

Uh, yeah, I mean, stuff that I've written recently, I listen to. If I think it's really good, I'll keep rinsing it. It's like loads of hearts too. But yeah, I don't really listen to a lot of the stuff I've released because I've already listened to it thousands of times. From writing it and listening to it, rinsing the demo, thinking, "This is sick," to then producing it, listening to it in the studio, crafting it, to then the mixing process, to the mastering process—I've listened to it more than anyone else will ever listen to it. You know what I mean? I've done it.

But what else am I listening to? Oh, God, this new album from... I'm listening to a lot of like, a bit more folky stuff, not folky, but a bit more like, um... yeah, rootsy. There's a song called... I mean, I listen to Fleet Foxes. Do you listen to Fleet Foxes? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Their new album is really good, I think.

Do you listen to the same artist over and over again, or do you just like to change?

I think I suffer the same problem that we all suffer from, which is like, the Spotify fatigue. You just think, "It's hard to listen to entire albums now," you know? It's just like, you go through, there's so much to choose from that you're like, "What the hell?" Right now, I'm just like, I want to go back to the classics. I want to just like, rinse Fleetwood Mac and be like, "I haven't given Fleetwood Mac enough time." And just like, rinse them and really get into Fleetwood. I don't know why. Great lyrics, great writing.

maybe it's fine. is out now.

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Words by Sal F.