Just months after their acclaimed return with Be Your Own God, Cork-based five-piece Bowden are back with a new single Faster, set for release on May 2nd—a final taster before the release of their long-awaited debut album Glacier, due May 23rd.
With Faster, Bowden dive into some of their most emotionally unfiltered territory yet. Built around a tense, urgent rhythm and a restrained sense of chaos, the track captures the feeling of spiralling in slow motion—watching something give way, whether it’s a relationship, a mindset, or even yourself.
On the single, the band shares:
“Faster is about reaching the end of your rope—or even reaching for the end. It’s that moment where everything starts accelerating, because you can’t sit in the slow burn anymore. You need change, or closure, or collapse. It’s about chasing a resolution, not knowing whether it’s the light at the end of the tunnel or a warning to turn back. That uncertainty is at the heart of it.”
This is Bowden at their most urgent, stripping back the lush layers found on previous singles and letting raw emotion lead the way. There’s a restless energy underpinning Faster—a quiet volatility that lingers in the delivery and pacing, matching the song’s subject matter step for step. At times it feels like a deep breath held too long; at others, like a sharp exhale after months of silence.
Faster arrives as the final preview of Bowden’s debut album Glacier, out May 23rd.
Produced by Christian Best (Mick Flannery, O Emperor, Susan O’Neill), Glacier is a careful and confident body of work—one that’s already gathering quiet momentum as one of the most compelling Irish albums of the year. The album also sees Bowden collaborate with acclaimed musicians Matthew Berrill (saxophone) and Dylan Howe (trumpet), adding texture and depth without ever crowding the songs’ core emotional weight.
There’s a clear throughline between the tracks released so far—Peel, Everyone, Be Your Own God, and now Faster. Each song reveals a different shade of the band’s evolving sound: textured but not overworked, emotionally open without resorting to cliché. Whether it’s the disorientation of isolation (Be Your Own God) or the desperate search for clarity (Faster), Bowden are not afraid to ask difficult questions, even when answers are scarce.
About Bowden Hailing from Cork, Bowden are a rising alt-rock band known for their atmospheric sound and quietly intense songwriting. Influenced by the likes of Radiohead, Villagers, and Foals, their music drifts between the introspective and the explosive—often within the same track. Early support from national radio (including 2FM's Dan Hegarty), praise from Hot Press, and recognition from Spotify’s The Cork Playlist (where they were voted Best New Act) have all pointed to a band very much on the rise.
Their live shows have become essential for those in the know—intimate yet expansive, sharp yet unpretentious—earning them headline slots in Cork’s Fred Zeppelin’s, along with well-received appearances in Mike The Pies (Listowel), Kavanagh’s (Portlaoise), and Bakers (Clonmel).
With Glacier arriving this May and Faster pushing things into even bolder territory, Bowden are closing in on something special—whether it's a resolution or a reckoning, we’ll soon find out.
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