Golden Time: Conor O'Brien of Villagers on his new album, and giving up drinking 

As Villagers tour Europe on the back of a new album, Conor O'Brien talks about adjusting to life in his 40s 

Conor O'Brien of Villagers. Picture: Andrew Whitton

“I knew it was going to be a lifelong pursuit,” Conor O’Brien says of Villagers’ longevity. Featuring a rotating cast of musicians led by the Dubliner, it’s been an ongoing pursuit since 2008, growing slowly but steadily, surely. There’s a sense of nostalgia around his sixth studio album, That Golden Time. 

 The title itself hints at a long-ago past, a longing, perhaps, for something different, less algorithm-driven, while there’s a woozy, lush sound running throughout, with contributions from a group of players that O’Brien had first seen performing in a tribute to Italian composer Ennio Morricone. “My first love of music was always film soundtracks,” he explains.