Tony Clayton Lea on music: Pillow Queens find their place in the pop firmament

Pillow Queens: a band who have truly found their place

The Irish band have broadened the scope of their songwriting to produce a fine and very promising second album

PUNK/POP: Pillow Queens, Leave the Light On (Royal Mountain Records)

If Pillow Queens’ 2020 debut album, In Waiting, presented an Irish group tentatively making their presence felt, then their far superior follow-up displays many elements of a band who have truly found their place. Many of the song topics reference the album title: light as a source of nourishment, protection, warmth. What is most surprising, however, is how Pillow Queens have broadened the scope of their songwriting. Pop/punk songs are in proud attendance, inevitably, but the guitar-led psychedelia of Historian and the wistful ballad House that Sailed Away augur remarkably well for what’s next. Rating: ****