49th & Main

49th & Main are having the time of their lives. The Irish duo of Ben O’Sullivan and Paddy King have been on a meteoric rise since the release of their single “Catching Eyes” in 2020, amassing over 200 million streams across platforms for their uniquely infectious blend of melody-driven, uptempo dance music, while their raucous gigs have cemented their reputation as a must-see live act dominating stages everywhere from Glastonbury to a 2025 sold-out North American tour. Now readying the release of their long-awaited and explosively energetic debut album, Happy Tears, 49th & Main are taking time to celebrate the joy of the present moment. “I used to always feel nostalgic for the past and wanting the old times back but recently something changed,” Ben says. “There was a moment in Summer 2024 when I was just home in Dublin having a run and I got told that our song was going to be on a FIFA game [now known as EAFC] and everything clicked. I texted my family and I cried happy tears, since only a year before things had felt so different. Now, it was like ‘the good old days’ were happening at that very moment – this is where I’d want to come back to in the future.” The genre-sprawling 21 tracks of Happy Tears encapsulates that bittersweet joy, embodying the feeling of nostalgia for the past, hope for the future and fleeing joy in the present by taking listeners on a journey from the bouncing basslines and singalong vocals of “Good Times” to the boom-bap swagger and horn fanfares of “Most Days”, propulsive house pulse of “Hold On”, UKG balladry of “Glenmalure Blue” and uplifting, jazz-inflected saxophone melodies of “Come Home”. It’s a blend of euphoric highs and introspective lows that tugs on the heartstrings as the pair navigate yearning for the sounds and feelings of the past, as well as pushing for a future of adventure. Scattered among the journey are voice notes and heartwarming home video recordings from the pair’s childhood, as well as features from some of contemporary dance music’s most exciting names: Irish DJ and producer SHEE on the thumping beat of “Hold On” – “always a great moment to jump into the crowd when it’s played live,” Ben says – as well as rapper Brandon Nembhard on the easygoing “Most Days”, producer A Little Sound on the rolling drum ‘n’ bass of “Can’t Walk Away” and MC mustbejohn on the nostalgic feel of ‘Rewind’. “So much of the album was instinctual, with tracks written while we were on the road or put together and then taken apart again depending on the mood that fit best,” Ben says. “The process was a lot of fun and often very personal, including reworking a three-decade old song that Paddy’s dad initially wrote and that became Mr Rain.” With their largest tour to date spanning the UK and EU planned for later in 2025, as well as new music constantly being written, it feels like 49th & Main are finally embodying the remarkable journey of being themselves, right here, right now. “I want people to listen to the album and cry happy tears,” Paddy says. “Let the emotion happen.” Press play and you’ll feel it too: the good times are most certainly back.