A DONEGAL singer-songwriter, whose family hail from West Belfast, releases his new single this week, ahead of his debut album next month.
Seán Feeny returns with ‘Galactic Tides’, a sweeping, atmospheric folk-pop track exploring displacement, discovery, and the search for belonging.
Seán is the youngest son of Kathleen and Seán Feeny who these days live outside Anagaire in the West Donegal Gaeltacht. Kathleen is the eldest daughter of Hugh and Sarah Duffy from Greenan, Shaws Road, while Seán Snr is a native of Portstewart, Co Derry. They lived together in Stewartstown Avenue after getting married in 1969. Seán Snr also worked as a PE teacher at St Mary's Grammar School, Glen Road, before the family moved to Germany in 1976.
Last year Seán enjoyed strong media support with the release of his first singles ‘1969’ and ‘Western Roads’. While ‘1969’ drew widespread Irish media attention and heavy regional radio rotation, follow-up single ‘Western Roads’ significantly expanded Seán's international footprint, bringing in specialist music coverage and playlist support from GoldenPlec (Ireland), BlackMarket Playlists (Germany) and For The Love Of Music (The Netherlands). This growing momentum sets the stage for his most ambitious release to date.
A collaboration with fellow Donegal singer-songwriter and musician Ruairí Friel of Silver Winged They Fly, ‘Galactic Tides’ began with a set of lyrics that Seán wrote – an imagined journey through cosmic drift as a metaphor for emigration. When he shared them with Friel, the project took welcome shape in musical form.
Ruairí said: “Seán and I had a chat about a collaboration. He shared some lyrics and this one jumped out to me as it spoke about displacement and identity being outside of control, subject to bigger forces. I felt it was an important song in his whole project and I went with the melody and chords that felt right.”
The recording also features the distinctive talents of Friel and his much-respected wife, singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Cullen (The Reflection Box) on backing vocals, with Cullen’s voice adding a haunting quality that elevates the track’s celestial atmosphere.
Produced once again by fellow Donegal man, Orri McBrearty, the track carries Feeny’s blend of warm storytelling and evocative imagery, this time framed through the vastness of space.
Seán Feeny
Using stellar winds, distant moons, and shifting galaxies as metaphors, ‘Galactic Tides’ reflects the emotional tide of being uprooted, placed somewhere unfamiliar, and slowly navigating toward a place, or a person, that feels like home.
Seán said: “This song at its heart is an emigration story. It’s about being dropped into a place unknown and having to find your way.
“The universe became the language for that journey, those moments where you feel weightless, lost, or out of your element, but eventually find a kindred spirit or a new beginning.”
‘Galactic Tides’ also marks Seán's third creative collaboration with filmmaker Charlie Joe Doherty, who directed the official music video. Shot in the West Donegal Gaeltacht, the video visually mirrors the song’s themes by placing its characters, co-writers Feeny and Friel, in a landscape both beautiful and unfamiliar.
“We wanted the video to feel like you’ve been dropped into another world. An Carn Buí and An Charraig Fhinn gave us that sense of vastness, isolation, and discovery. It’s a story about finding connection in an unknown place,” Seán added.
With its soaring melodies, introspective lyrics, and cinematic soundscape, ‘Galactic Tides’ expands Feeny’s artistic universe, building on the grounded storytelling of his earlier work and moving into a more expansive, atmospheric folk pop style. The single offers a powerful preview of the forthcoming album of the same name.
To listen, watch and follow Seán Feeny, visit www.seanfeeny.com
