The Feeling Is Over Turns Peadar Connolly’s Amicable Breakup Into an Irish iTunes Chart-Topper
The Irish Ethnomusicologist Blends Folk, Orchestral and World Instruments Into an Alt-Pop Ballad
Peadar Connolly wrote The Feeling Is Over about the strange calm that follows an amicable breakup. He built that mood from a palette of folk, orchestral, digital, and world instruments most pop songs would never combine. The independent Irish singer-songwriter and ethnomusicologist released the single on 28 May 2026. It shot straight to the top of the overall Irish iTunes chart. He wrote it with Mitchell Keely, his former partner, turning the end of their own relationship into a record of the friendship that outlasted it.
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The Feeling Is Over Balances a Folk, Orchestral and Digital Palette
The Feeling Is Over began life as an upbeat dance-pop track. Connolly took it apart and rebuilt it as a ballad. That second version sits where Alt-Folk intimacy meets the wider reach of Alternative Pop. Folk instrumentation gives the verses their warmth. Orchestral parts widen the choruses, and digital production keeps everything modern rather than nostalgic. The world instruments threaded through the mix are not decoration. They come straight from Connolly’s work as an ethnomusicologist, drawing on Irish roots alongside Balkan and East Asian folk traditions.
That range is the point. Rather than treat folk, orchestral, and electronic elements as separate boxes, Connolly lets them share one space. A single verse can move from an acoustic figure to a swell of strings without losing the melody. It stays a pop ballad in shape, but the instrumental choices come from somewhere less predictable. That pull between a familiar structure and an unfamiliar set of sounds keeps the track rewarding on repeat listens.
An Amicable Breakup, a Studio Collaboration, and a Friendship That Outlasted the Romance
Lyrically, The Feeling Is Over skips the obvious heartbreak script. Instead of anger or longing, it sits with the quieter relief that arrives when both people in a breakup wish each other well. That is a harder feeling to write. It is also where the collaboration matters, because Peadar Connolly made the song with Mitchell Keely, the co-writer here, so the two people the record describes built it together.
There is something fitting about writing a breakup song with the other person rather than in isolation. The subject and the process mirror each other, and Connolly never overplays the sentiment. He treats the end of a relationship as an ordinary, survivable thing, which is exactly why the song lands. Anyone who has been through an amicable split will recognise the feeling he describes, the odd lightness that shows up once the hardest part is behind you.
From RTÉ’s Eurosong Stage to an Alt-Folk and Alternative Pop Audience
Connolly comes from a family of Irish musicians, and his training as an ethnomusicologist shapes how he assembles a song. The Eurovision-inspired flair in The Feeling Is Over does not come from a distance. He served as a songwriter and performer on the runner-up entry in RTÉ’s Eurosong 2024, Ireland’s national selection. The melodic drama in the chorus comes from someone who has written for that stage. Against a folk arrangement, that reach lands with more than one kind of listener, from Irish and UK audiences to the mainland European scenes that have already covered his work.
For fans of Irish songwriting, the closest touchstones bend folk into something grander. Hozier built his reputation on pairing folk foundations with soul and orchestral swells, and Connolly reaches for a similar widescreen feel when the choruses open up. Damien Rice, another Irish songwriter, made his name on string-laden ballads about love and its aftermath. The Feeling Is Over shares that instinct for framing a personal story with real orchestration rather than studio gloss. If you sit between Alt-Folk storytelling, Alternative Pop hooks, and the theatrical scope of Eurovision, this single belongs in your rotation.
Chart Success and Early Press for The Feeling Is Over
The early response backs up the ambition. The Feeling Is Over topped the overall Irish iTunes chart on release and picked up airplay on Resonance FM, and Connolly’s wider catalogue has drawn Irish radio support and coverage across Europe. Hot Press called his debut single, Codhlaím go Suan, “a breathtaking debut,” and The Feeling Is Over has already gathered write-ups worth reading. Music Arena Gh framed it as a study in amicable closure. Plastic Magazine placed it in his indie-folk lineage, and Clare FM named him an Irish Artist of the Week.
IndieMusic.News’s curator team: “What sold us on The Feeling Is Over is the restraint. Connolly had every excuse to over-arrange a folk, orchestral, and electronic hybrid, but he keeps the melody in charge and lets the world instruments colour the edges instead of crowding the song.”
Connolly is clear about what the reception means. “To see it resonate so quickly, particularly topping the Irish iTunes chart, is incredibly validating,” Connolly said, pointing to the way blending different musical elements can still reach a broad audience.
You can find The Feeling Is Over and the rest of his catalogue on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud. Keep up with Peadar Connolly across platforms on Instagram, TikTok, his YouTube channel, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
