Always restless and inventive while always true to the power and glory of songwriting and melody, Conor OBrien has made another great leap forward with Villagers fourth studio album, The Art Of Pretending To Swim.Following the exquisitely sparse, intimate aura of 2015s Darling Arithmetic, OBriens new record reconnects with the multi-faceted approach of Villagers 2010 album debut Becoming A Jackal and 2013s {Awayland} while adding a new-found soulfulness, rhythmic nous and dazzling panoply of sonic detail, both analogue and digital, creating feverish moods while writing effortlessly accessible tunes. Balanced with subtle aspects and lyrical themes that embrace existential fears and hopes in this desperate, technologically-centred dystopian age, The Art Of Pretending To Swim is the most brilliantly realised Villagers album to date. The album was written, produced, mixed and primarily performed by Conor OBrien in his Dublin studio.He has a string of accolades under his belt including two Ivor Novello Awards (the most recent being 2016s Album Award for Darling Arithmetic), two Mercury Music Prize nominations and is also a previous winner of Irelands Choice Music Prize. Additionally, Villagers music recently featured in the high profile HBO drama Big Little Lies, Conor has collaborated with the composer Nico Muhly (that track featuring in the forthcoming Paulo Sorrentino Berlusconi biopic Loro 2) and Villagers Spotify session of Nothing Arrived has hit over 100 million streams.