Single Review: Radie Peat - Still I Love Him (Rough Trade Records)
Radie Peat, the frontwoman of Irish contemporary folk band Lankum, delivers her new solo Single, Still I Love Him, a haunting ballad that sinks out of the speakers and permeates under your skin. In a good way.
Still I Love Him is Radie Peat’s debut solo single. Peat is exploring working on her own, while still being a member of Lankum. As of yet, there is no solo album on the calendar.
Peat has made music outside of Lankum in the past, most famously with ØXN, which tends to focus more on splinters of folk and trad, sub-genres with delightfully niche names like doom-folk, or experimental neofolk. Being an interpretation of a traditional folk song, however, Still I Love him is very much in the same genre of deep, dark and wonderful ballads as Lankum.
Radie Peat has quickly cemented herself as one of unmistakable voices of modern Irish music, alongside the likes of Lisa O’Neill or Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin. Similar to O’Neill, Peat often has a slow, sombre, almost keening quality to her songs, and this is especially prominent in Still I Love Him, the melody of which is quiet and dramatic. While she did not write the track, singing well-established folk songs with a personal twist is not unique to Peat, as almost all folk and trad singers, in Ireland, the UK, US and beyond tend to rehash the same songs from the great archive of folk songs passed through the generations, as much to stop them being forgotten as anything. Still I Love Him falls somewhere in between a cover and a purposeful attempt to continue this rich tradition.
As is commonplace in Irish trad music, the song is both tragic and beautiful. Due to the cultural oral tradition in Ireland, songs were often used as a way to tell stories. In Still I Love Him, Peat describes an abusive and violent relationship, bringing to light the heartbreaking reality of such situations. The lyrics are shocking and upsetting, but Peat brings the listeners through the journey like a calm sailor would bring a ship through a storm. Her deep, powerful voice gives a strength to the song that contrasts with previous iterations, such as Ruth Notman, Dora Darling or Annmarie O’Riordan’s lighter, more whimsical versions. Perhaps this is Peat holding up a mirror to a society that laughs off, ignores, or trivialises abuse. For the last minute of the six minute track Peat is silent, and the only music is the echo of the electric organ, as if Peat wants to give the listeners time to process what they have just heard.
Trad often weaves the tragedy of Irish history and culture within its music, and Peat does this spectacularly. The song doesn’t condemn the abuser, but nor does it apologise for him. Rather, Peat puts you in a scene, following a young woman as she marries and falls into a life of abuse, helpless to resist her feelings towards the person causing her suffering. No names are given, no details, no scene setting or place giving. Far from making the song less relatable, the anonymous narrator becomes the universal woman, speaking to everyone. There is no need for a chorus, no need for a drop or even a rise in tempo. The more I listen to the song, the more I fall into a timeless limbo, enveloped into the world of Radie Peat, taken into her dreamlike storytelling, and the heartbreaking story she sings.
The music video is slow but impactful, like the song. It follows underwater figures meandering through the darkness and translucence, possibly comparing the difficulty of swimming in murky water to the dark realities of domestic abuse. The women in the video move between tranquility and defiance, screaming at the camera under the water before returning again to silence, to calm. The video is an excellent accompaniment to the track.
The song is simple. The focus, as it should be, is on Peat’s voice. Some slow guitar, both acoustic and electric, accompany her, as well as some light strings and what sounds like an electric organ. The almost church style ambiance works well with Peat’s storytelling way of singing, and the haunting track sinks deeper and deeper into your soul with each listen.
While Lankum are fantastic, and Peat absolutely thrives when with the group, her voice carries so much weight that Still I Love Him works well as a solo act. Whether on her own or with Lankum, new songs from Radie Peat are always welcome. The best compliment I can give Still I Love Him is that the more I listen to it, the more I want to listen to it. Radie Peat will be playing a solo show in Vicar Street, Dublin, on November 20.
Originally published in The Splice Magazine
https://thesplice.co.uk/2026/08/06/single-review-radie-peat-still-i-love-him-rough-trade-records/