Glass and Mirrors – Niall McNamee

With a string of acting credits from the West End to film, multi-talented Irish artist Niall McNamee steps back into the spotlight — this time with guitar in hand — to release his long-awaited debut album, Glass and Mirrors, out 10th October via his own label, Wellboy.

Drawing on influences from The Pogues and Christy Moore to Oasis, Coldplay, and Brian Wilson, Niall blends Celtic heritage with a modern alt-rock sensibility. The album is a vivid chronicle of his life: from building sites in London to pub gigs, heartbreaks, and fleeting triumphs, all delivered with his signature storytelling and melodic sensibility.

Alongside music, Niall has built a diverse acting career, including West End performances, starring opposite Pierce Brosnan, and a fight scene with Jackie Chan. Yet, it’s the live stage and intimate connection with an audience that remains central to his artistry — a theme that resonates throughout Glass and Mirrors.

Q: Glass and Mirrors feels like it traces your life in London, from building sites to ballads — when you listen back, does it feel more like a diary, a love letter, or a survival story?

Niall McNamee: It does feel like a diary. I often wonder how much of it all I’d remember if it didn’t live in songs. Life has been so sporadic and busy since I was 17 and I haven’t really stopped so a lot of things that aren’t written down have disappeared. I forgot until the other day (meeting a pal for a pint) that I’d written a play and sent it to him when I was 23. I knew I’d written one play, but how do you forget that you wrote two!

Q: You’ve described writing lyrics by asking yourself how Shane MacGowan might say it — how do you balance that Celtic storytelling tradition with your own modern voice?

Niall McNamee: Well, I still consider Shane as a modern voice. He references the past in describing the present. But equally I suppose there’s certain words I think would be repulsed to reference in a song. I don’t think you’ll ever hear the word iPhone in a line. But who knows. I think I live in the instinct mostly that the way we as humans experience life is roughly the same as any time in the last hundred or so years. That being said… maybe that’s about to change.

Q: The album moves between rowdy, stomping songs like “Magpie With a Mullet” and deeply personal ballads like “Another Life.” Was that contrast intentional, or just reflective of the chaos of your life?

Niall McNamee: Certainly not intentional. I’ve never made an effort to write in a particular style or speed. It seems to be influenced totally by the way an experience or story has made me feel. Sometimes heartbreak can be very melancholy and nearly sweet, but sometimes that grief can produce a madness in your head that explodes when you go to a guitar with it.Although now I think about it, when I’m writing, I switch between piano and guitar, and if I find myself being drawn to the piano more, it often becomes a ballad and vice versa with the guitar.

Q: You’ve built a career in acting alongside music — from West End roles to fight scenes with Jackie Chan. How has storytelling on screen influenced how you write and perform songs?

Niall McNamee: I don’t know that it has other than to be inspired to create something epic. Film sets feel huge compared to a music studio. Although I have felt a costume has sometimes inspired a difference in a position to write from. Putting on different shoes for a start totally switches your perspective. It’s why actors often rehearse in their own clothes apart from the character they’re playing shoes, because to walk in someone else’s shoes… etc.

Q: A 24-date UK & Ireland tour is no small feat — what do you want audiences to take away from these shows, and how does playing live feed back into your songwriting?

Niall McNamee: I always hope people leave feeling better. Whatever they may be going through, if you’re down it’ll uplift you and if you’re happy, you’ll be happier. What’s exciting this time (but daunting also) is for the first time in a year or two there are brand new songs. Seeing a song go from a recording studio to a stage is a very strange experience for me. It comes to life twice.

Niall McNamee’s debut album Glass and Mirrors is out 10th October. Pre-save here: https://slinky.to/GlassandMirrors