Matthew Devereux from The Pale releases new single 'Fancier' from his latest solo album 'Keep Sketch'
Fancier is the latest single to be taken from Matthew's new solo album entitled 'Keep Sketch' that features ten brand new songs which were written, performed, and produced solely by Matthew and independently released on his own House Devil Record Label.
The album recounts stories of growing up on the northside of Dublin, with all the electronic instruments used in the recording process being era appropriate to that time..'Keep Sketch' is the follow up to last year's first real solo album 'House Devil'. Tony Clayton-Lea recently included Keep Sketch in his the 10 best Irish albums of 2025 so far list in Tony's The Irish Times Culture column.
Best known for his work as the frontman for the legendary Irish band, The Pale, who brought us their classic debut album Here's One We Made Earlier in the 1990s which featured the legendary Irish classics 'Butterfly' and 'Dogs With No Tails' amongst other beloved tracks.'Keep Sketch' still sees Matthew following his passion for classic songwriting that leans itself to leftfield like his work with The Pale.
Fancier is the follow up single to Goverment Milk, which was added to the RTE Radio 1 Recommended playlist for two weeks on it's release, and is also accompanied by a brand new video which was directed by filmmaker Nicky Larkin, who recently premiered his short film Punt at the Galway Film Festival. The video was shot across the rooftops of Dublin city. You can watch the video for Fancier Here
"Pigeon fanciers were once very common to Dublin.
Makeshift lofts on the balconies of city centre flats and a fancier on nearly every road in the suburbs.This song is a love song to the humble pigeon, a nod to the passion of the fancier and a recognition of the deep connection between us and nature" Matthew Devereux
Fancier and Keep Sketch are available to stream and download from Bandcamp and all usual streaming platforms now!
What stands out is Devereux’s uncluttered music, which allows the songs to shine. There's smart Krautrock here (Seven Grams), touches of Being Boiled - era Human League there (Keep Sketch) and understated hints of Depeche Mode elsewhere (Government Milk). The result is a toned - down album from a songwriter who merits more attention. Tony Clayton-Lea, The Irish Times
“Already known as the dynamic force of The Pale, Devereux presents the other side of his creativity. Intimate, more gentle, darker and haunting yet still containing razor sharp lyrics” Music of the heart.
“Still has the wit, intelligent and clarity of vision to still get his points across” The Goo
Dublin born Matthew Devereux has been actively making music since 1990, beginning with the formation of the much-loved Dublin band The Pale who immediately began to captivate audiences with their energetic live shows which quickly led to a bidding war between numerous record labels battling to sign them up.
Eventually signing with A&M Records and releasing their debut album Here’s One We Made Earlier in 1992, the album featured the classic Irish singles 'Butterfly’ And ‘Dogs With No Tails’ They have toured the world extensively and have made a dozen albums to date and recently celebrated their 30th anniversary in the music industry and released a career spanning best of collection entitled ‘Paleanthology.’
The Pale have always been known for their genre jumping musical stylings and experimenting with idiosyncratic instrumentation and continuing in this spirit of experimentation, Matthew released an album of instrumental ambient electronic music in 2003 entitled ‘Tap, Tap, Tap which received great critical acclaim on its release. 2024 eventually saw Matthew release a follow up Solo album of original songs entitled House Devil.
