Ailbhe Reddy has today released her new video and single titled ‘So Quickly, Baby’, from her upcoming album ‘Big Kiss’, dropping January 30th via Don Giovanni Records.
Love lost and lessons learned, ‘Kiss Big’ is a testament to that certain stage of the breakup that we all dread but, in the end, is best for us all. Perception of mutual feelings and assumptions meant for the other and thought to be felt alone. That moment of transition that is painful in the road ahead but can be reassuring in the rearview mirror.
Done in a subtle and poetic style with reflection and grace, ‘So Quickly, Baby’ hits all the feels without pumping the breaks too hard, but lets us know we aren’t the only one. The music highlights the emotions and Ailbhe’s vocals hit every heart string with the emotion wrapped in the melody.
About Ailbhe Reddy, ‘So Quickly, Baby’ & ‘Kiss Big’
Reddy describes ‘So Quickly, Baby’ as “the meltdown song, the album’s neurotic heartbeat. A tug-of-war between grace and chaos. The verses attempt to be the bigger person, while the choruses unveil the question at its heart, ‘How are you already fine, and when will I be?’”
“It’s about the push and pull between wanting to be gracious and wanting to scream,” she continues. “That weird neurotic whiplash when someone seems totally fine while you feel like you’ve been dropped in the middle of nowhere without a map.”
‘Kiss Big’ is a breakup record, but not the tidy, acoustic kind. It lives in the messy middle: that disorienting stretch when the life you built with someone collapses and you’re left trying to figure out who you are on your own. It’s a portrait of the aftermath, the numbness, the confusion, and the brief flashes of clarity when identity slips, rearranges, and slowly reforms.
Written between Dublin, London, New York, and the American Midwest, ‘Kiss Big’ traces the full cycle of love, loss, and renewal, the way we swear “never again,” only to find ourselves back at the start with renewed hope. Throughout the album, Reddy builds an emotional world that feels both deeply personal and quietly universal: raw, wry, and wide open, the sound of coming apart and piecing yourself back together.
“It’s about the aftershock of a breakup,” she explains. “That liminal space where you’re equal parts sad, hopeful, terrified, and probably a bit delusional.”
Drawing inspiration from Fleishman Is in Trouble and Sarah Kane’s Crave, Reddy combines diaristic lyrics with soft-spoken intensity, creating music that exists between indie rock and confessional folk, echoing the emotional gravity of Julia Jacklin, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus.
Reddy’s previous albums, Personal History and Endless Affair, earned widespread acclaim and a Choice Music Prize nomination, with praise from The Guardian, Pitchfork, The Times and more. She’s performed at Glastonbury, SXSW, The Great Escape, and beyond, steadily building a devoted audience drawn to her honesty and emotional precision.
With ‘Kiss Big’, Ailbhe Reddy leans further into her gift for making the personal feel universal. These are songs for endings, almost, and the quiet beginnings that come after, a vivid, self-aware breakup album from one of Ireland’s most compelling voices.
Featured image by Su Mustecaplioglu.
‘Kiss Big’ Tracklist
- Align
- That Girl
- So Quickly, Baby
- Untangling
- Graceful Swimmer
- Dead Arm
- Gorgeous Thing
- Kiss Big
- Crave
LINKS:
https://www.instagram.com/ailbhereddy
https://www.facebook.com/AilbheReddy/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzRCXBOHcUu0pgpQfvJQcgQ