Birthday Problem the collaborative project between prolific producer/musicians – Matt Harris (HAVVK, Maria Kelly, DYVR) and Rocky O’Reilly (ASIWYFA, Oppenheimer, Malibu Shark Attack) have delivered their latest single ‘The Language of War’ teaming up with yet another Irish vocalist in the process.

Having previously released tracks featuring Ailbhe Reddy, Runah, HAVVK, Nerves, The Wood Burning Savage, ‘The Language of War’ finds Birthday Problem collaborating with West Cork singer-songwriter Molly O’Mahony, formerly a member of the folk group Mongoose.

“I remember hearing Molly’s music for the first time when I was driving to Cork and I was struck by the quality of her vocals. Working with her voice has given us so many options with the track and working with her as a person has been great,” says Matt Harris 

“The song is told from the voice of a dismayed deity of war, the Morrigan perhaps, warning humankind about the cost of invoking her once again. She tells humanity, in no uncertain terms, that to continue speaking the language of war, is to realise their own bitter demise,” explains Molly.

“I’ve enjoyed the challenge of writing to this track by Matt and Rocky, as it’s completely out of my normal wheelhouse. It allowed me to easily break from writing from my own life and imagine broader scenarios and themes. The hard-edged, beat-driven texture of the track lent itself to expressing some tremors of current world events through an imagined mythological voice. It was cathartic to channel some of my own feelings about the state of the world through this vessel.”

The opportunity to push themselves and the vocalists they wanted to work with was part of what made the prospect of Birthday Problem so intriguing for the duo.

“Matt and I definitely had an idea of the artists we wanted to be involved in the Birthday Problem project, many of whom we’ve worked with over the years. We were, and still are, acutely aware that there are a lot of upsetting and disturbing things happening in the world at the moment, and that’s literally what we approached vocalists with. We asked them a tough question: ‘if we continue to indulge the worst parts of our humanity, what will the world start to look like in the future?’ With this project, we want to find out what issues are worrying people most, and even in a small way help to draw attention to them,” explains Rocky O’Reilly.