49th & Main Release ‘Happy Tears’ | indie-electronic intimacy + festival-sized euphoria
TRACKLIST
Happy Tears is out now, buy/stream it here.
Today, 49th & Main — the Irish duo of best friends Paddy King and Ben O’Sullivan who’ve spent the past four years dancing on the fault line between bedroom indie-electronic intimacy and festival-sized euphoria — release their long-awaited debut album Happy Tears via Counter Records (Ninja Tune). Listen to and purchase Happy Tears here.
Across the genre-sprawling 21 tracks, Happy Tears drips with wide-eyed wonder and end-of-the-world honesty. It’s a coming-of-age album in every sense, one that captures the rush, the restlessness, and the reckless joy of your twenties. From the moment opener “Good Times” veers to life with bouncing basslines and singalong vocals, the album leans forward with purpose through every corner of their sound.
There’s the boom-bap swagger and horn fanfares of “Most Days,” propulsive house pulse of “Hold On,” UKG balladry of “Glenmalure Blue,” and uplifting, jazz-inflected saxophone melodies of “Come Home.” It’s a blend of euphoric highs and introspective lows. It tugs on the heartstrings as the pair navigate yearning for the sounds and feelings of the past, grappling with loss as well as pushing for a future of adventure.
Emotionally deep and instinctively accessible, tracks like “Distractions” encapsulate the duo’s simultaneous longing for home and pull towards the unknown. It is the kind of emotionally urgent moment that 49th & Main have made their signature. Even at its most upbeat, the record carries a flicker of sadness with a knowing wink to the duality behind its title. These aren’t just happy tears. They’re nostalgic tears. Frustrated tears. Grateful ones.
Happy Tears easily bridges those emotional depths with production that feels sky-high. Ben’s intricate, off-kilter jams and instinctive melodic flourishes meet Paddy’s vocal clarity and lyrical instinct to create something that feels familiar but undeniably new. It’s indie, yes, but it’s also house, R&B, electronica, jazz, and moments that verge on ambient. Not so much a melting pot as a memory box packed with snapshots of influence and feeling that have shaped the duo’s growth.
And it’s messy, in the best way. Not polished or postured. Real. Like life, figuring it out as you go. It carries the DNA of two guys who started making music for fun and never let go of that spirit, even as the rooms got bigger and the streams hit the hundreds of millions. That honesty and resistance to sanding down the edges, is exactly why it resonates with the many…
With over 200 million streams, the pair now boast 2.2 million peak monthly listeners on Spotify, a string of sold-out shows across major venues including Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and Bristol’s Strange Brew, a sold out debut North American tour, and acclaimed performances at Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, and The Great Escape. And then, it all comes to a head with a UK & European tour towards the end of the year and a Vicar Street Dublin date early next.
ABOUT 49TH & MAIN
For Ben O’Sullivan and Paddy King, Happy Tears is the culmination of a journey that began with lo-fi uploads on SoundCloud and carried them through viral highs, personal lows, and the strange in-between where things began to stick. It’s a record born from chaos, its evolution traced through blurry nights and spontaneous decisions that lead to the kind of unexpected victories that only make sense in hindsight. But more than anything, it’s a portrait of two best friends learning how to grow as people and as artists without ever losing touch with what made it fun in the first place.
Beyond their extensive catalog, 49th & Main are a band built for the stage. Moving from their production duo to a 4 piece band, their live shows have quickly become the stuff of legend. Almost every show sells out, and for good reason. They bring the energy of a warehouse rave, the intimacy of a house party, and the polish of top-tier musicianship. Whether crowd-surfing, diving into mosh pits, or leading mass singalongs with fans who know every word, they make each performance feel like a once-in-a-lifetime.
The road to this moment however, has been anything but smooth. Ben’s battle with aplastic anemia forced him off the road over their trajectory, challenging the band’s momentum just as it was peaking. But rather than pull back, they pushed forward exploring new sonic terrain and sharpening their creative voice with releases like Catching Eyes and Self Sabotage. The resilience paid off.
49th & Main have crafted an album that captures the pulse of indie-electronic music while crossing over into their plethora of sonic elements, writing their own playbook on success through artistic authenticity. From their audacious rise from Kilkenny, Ireland to international acclaim, the duo has carved out an unconventional and inspiring path. Their blend of critically acclaimed live performances, specialist media support, viral streaming success, and a deep connection to the emotional currents of today’s youth has positioned them as a cultural phenomenon. 49th & Main are a story that demands the attention they are deservedly getting.