For Those I Love have announced their self-titled debut album and shared their new single ‘Birthday / The Pain’ – you can hear the track below.

The project of Dublin producer and songwriter David Balfe, For Those I Love recently featured in the NME 100 – our tips for the new and emerging artists who look set for break-out success in 2021.

For Those I Love’s self-titled debut album is set for release on March 26 via September Recordings, and Balfe has previewed the record today (February 12) by sharing the single ‘Birthday/The Pain’.

“I was six when I first encountered the fallout of a violent death. It’s such a haunting burden at that age, and still is,” Balfe explained about the wider themes behind the lyrics heard in the track.

“‘Birthday / The Pain’ recalls that moment, the desperation of trying to make sense of it as a child, and what it’d mean for me growing up against that backdrop.”

The Sam Davis-directed video for ‘Birthday / The Pain’ has also been shared, which you can watch above.

“This video is a journey through a landscape of memories – a train of thought,” Davis explained about the clip. “Created using a process called photogrammetry, thousands of photos were stitched together using AI to produce giant 3D models.

“These scenes, inspired by long chats with Dave and from the lyrics themselves, touch on the past, loss, freedom and addiction. Something we all face at some point.”

Writing in praise of For Those I Love for the NME 100 last month, NME‘s Jenessa Williams said: “Turning the loss of his best friend Paul Curran into a powerful living eulogy, For Those I Love offers a startlingly beautiful encapsulation of friendship, austerity and personal reckoning in the gritty vein of This Is England or Trainspotting, heightened by the subversive use of euphoric ‘90s rave samples and biting political commentary.

“This calibre of gut-punching music doesn’t come around often.”